To help contain the recent COVID-19 cluster at Changi Airport, all passenger terminals and Jewel will be closed to the public from 13 May to 13 June 2021. This is a further extension from the original announcement, where the terminal was scheduled to reopen on 26 May 2021.Â
The airport will remain accessible to ticketed passengers and essential airport workers, with a handful of F&B outlets remaining open to serve them. Flights will continue as scheduled, unless informed otherwise by your airline.Â
43 airport workers have now tested positive for COVID-19. The closure will allow for all workers in Terminals 1 & 3 (remember that Terminal 2 and Terminal 4 are closed at the moment) and Jewel to undergo COVID-19 testing and for new operating processes, requirements and safety protocols to be implemented.Â
Additional precautionary measures at Changi Airport
From May 2021, Changi Airport has implemented stricter cohorting arrangements for airport workers. Those handling flights from the highest-risk countries will have separate dining and rest areas, and cease intermingling with other work teams.Â
In addition to this, from 20 May 2021, all arriving passengers from very high-risk countries/regions must undergo on-arrival Antigen Rapid Tests (ART), on top of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests. The quicker turnaround time of an ART will allow for public health actions to be accelerated for those who test positive. From 23 May 2021, airport workers in higher risk roles will take an additional ART between their 7-day rostered routine tests.Â
90% of frontline aviation workers have already been vaccinated to date, and more will be vaccinated in the coming weeks.Â
Impact on staycations and activities at Changi Airport
Changi Airport is more than an airport, of course. That may sound like a cheesy marketing tagline, but the fact remains that many people visit it for recreation, including staycations and attractions at Jewel.Â
If you’ve booked a staycation at YOTELAir Changi (hey, some people do), that’s obviously off the table now. The hotel will be getting in touch to reschedule/refund existing bookings, and has already stopped taking new bookings for this period on its website.Â
The Crowne Plaza Changi Airport is anyways not accepting staycation guests at the moment, with all availability blocked out till 7 January 2022.Â
If you’re holding tickets to attractions at Jewel during this period, you’ll be allowed to utilise them on alternative dates upon reopening, with the validity extended till 31 December 2021. Guests are advised to email Jewel or visit the respective reseller’s website (for those who purchased tickets using SRV) for more details.Â
Conclusion
It’s going to be a lot quieter at an already-quiet Changi Airport soon, but the closure will hopefully help the authorities get ahead of the cluster and prevent it from worsening.Â
Once again, air travel remains unaffected– the closure only affects non-travellers. With just 14 days to go till the start of the ATB, “knife-edge” is indeed an apt term.Â
Good decision to minimize movements at the airport until the cluster is fully uncovered. Also agree that the ATB looks safe at the moment. Will you do an article about your hotel plans for HK?
have been planning to write some trip planning stuff, but wanted to wait till things got a bit clearer for fear of another false start! perhaps over the next week or so (i don’t want everyone blaming me for jinxing it ;))
Can’t wait for some (actual) travel related content! People posting the 387th picture of scrambled eggs from a random SG hotel breakfast in the Telegram group is seriously getting depressing!
True, the hotel reviews may be useful in future for reference, but the breakfast photo sharing has become boring.
hopefully soon we’ll have people sharing some airplane meals 🙂
Great, looking forward as I still have two nights to book. And yes, fully understand the jinxing part 😉
Worst is for the bubble to be revoked when u return. Then u need to SHN 21 days back in sg
Hong Kong is 7 days of staying at your own place, boss, not 21 days in a hotel. Any changes are announced 4 days in advance. Check your sources 🙂
if the bubble bursts, there will be a short period for travelers to return home, presumably to avoid quarantine (or at least do a milder form of it)
Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Classic.
Would HK suspend ATB flights if many passengers on one same flight tested positive? They did previously with SQ and TR flights right?