New satellite gate offers easier boarding, alighting for travellers in Changi Airport

SINGAPORE – Travellers catching flights to and from Changi Airport during peak hours may no longer need to brave the rain and hot sun to get on or off the plane.

When Changi Airport’s first satellite gate opens in August, passengers whose flights are assigned to remote stands located away from the terminal – which require them to take a bus to the aircraft – will not need to climb stairs to the plane.

Between five and seven minutes away by bus from Terminal 2, the new 200 sq m satellite gate features a fully sheltered two-storey air-conditioned facility equipped with a gently sloping 60m ramp.

The ramp provides easy access for travellers with wheelchairs, prams and carry-on wheeled luggage. 

With two aerobridges on the upper level, it is designed to support both narrow and wide-body aircraft, except the Airbus A380 and the Boeing B747 double-deck wide-body jets.

Usually, when a flight is assigned to a remote stand, passengers will need to take a bus to the aircraft, stepping temporarily on the tarmac before climbing up portable passenger steps. The final stretch between the bus and the steps is often not sheltered.

With the satellite gate, passengers can breeze through the boarding process, even after alighting from the bus, fully sheltered.

Speaking to reporters at a passenger flow simulation on July 10, the Changi Airport Group (CAG) said the new satellite gate will provide a more seamless and comfortable journey for travellers. Such remote flight operations are used for about 20 flights or 2 per cent of all flights in Changi Airport daily.

About 98 per cent of flights use one of the airport’s 111 contact gates that enable the plane to link directly to the airport terminal via an aerobridge.

CAG said passengers travelling on flights via Scoot, Xiamen Airlines and New Caledonia carrier Aircalin are more likely to use the new satellite gate, as the flight schedule data now shows that these three airlines’ flights are often assigned remote stands.

It added that flights with a higher capacity are more likely to be assigned contact gates that are directly located at the terminals, while those with fewer passengers can use remote stands.

Remote stands are usually used only during peak hours at the airport, which often range from 6am to 9am and 9pm to midnight, when the contact gates are fully occupied. 

Terry Lim, senior manager of airport operations control at CAG, said the new satellite gate will take the remote boarding experience “a step further” by providing shelter, as well as a more pleasant and comfortable passenger journey.

The number of workers needed at a satellite gate to facilitate the boarding or disembarkation of passengers on a wide-body aircraft will be halved from six to three, compared with a remote stand, CAG said. 

Changi’s 78 remote stands are also used to park aircraft that will be on the ground for a long period of time before they are due to depart again, and to house aircraft undergoing maintenance.

Powered entirely by its rooftop solar panels, the satellite gate is equipped with smart building features that automatically switch on air-conditioning 30 minutes before boarding time begins. Construction for this facility started in late 2025.

From May 2026, training sessions have been carried out for more than 500 airport staff to familiarise themselves with operations at the satellite gate.

CAG said there is no target for the total number of satellite gates to be constructed, as the airport would ideally like to assign most flights to contact gates. Changi Airport plans to build more remote stands to meet rising demand, bringing its total to more than 200.

CAG managing director of airport operations control Yeo Kia Thye said remote stand facilities will play an increasingly important role in the airport’s operations as passenger traffic continues to grow before Terminal 5 opens in the mid-2030s.