Preview: JetQuay’s interim CIP Lounge at Changi Airport

There’s always been an air of mystique surrounding the JetQuay CIP Terminal at Changi Airport, dubbed “the elite gateway at Changi”.

Opened in September 2006 as the first of its kind in Asia, it promised well-heeled travellers an escape from the unwashed masses in the public terminal, an oasis of calm, “minus the herding” (their words, not mine). Guests could be whisked from car to aircraft in as little as 30 minutes, or linger and enjoy the luxury of a private lounge and art gallery- a reminder that nothing quite reinforces the class divide like an airport.

✈️ JetQuay Experience

When you disembark from the car at JetQuay’s CIP Terminal in Singapore, a standalone airport terminal at Changi, another staff member escorts you into a state of the art, luxurious lounge, offering you a beverage and something to eat. On the way in, you hand the friendly, smiling attendant your tickets and passport. She’ll complete the check-in process for you, looking after your baggage and boarding pass. Nothing more for you to do, other than relax with the realization that at JetQuay your car can remain parked at the terminal for the unlimited duration of your stay and return to find it cleaned and polished, ready at the CIP Terminal lobby. As you sip your drink, you check your email on a computer monitor built into your lounge table. Later, after inspecting the limited edition Samsonite Black range of Alexander McQueen designed luggage, you choose a piece from the Tiffany’s display and then move on to browse the art gallery filled with the work from some of the finest contemporary Chinese artists. While you contemplate that you really “should” work out at the gym, a personal shopper goes to the duty free to collect your preferred items on your behalf. Returning with the items, your attendant announces that it is time to board your flight. As you pass by the private, in-house immigration desk in seconds, an electric buggy is positioned to whisk you to the air-bridge, your hand luggage and duty free items loaded on to the back. Unperturbed, you take a quick journey to the plane, board ahead of anyone else, and settle back unhurried to enjoy the rest of your trip.

But despite all the hype – you know it’s going a little overboard when the press releases start invoking the Wright Brothers – reality didn’t always live up to the billing. Reviews from 2009 noted that the only hot food option available was instant noodles (but hey, they’re cooked to order!), and with greatest respect to Nestle, mini-boxes of Koko Krunch and mass-produced pastries didn’t exactly scream “unbridled luxury”.

My emperor’s new clothes moment came when I visited JetQuay in 2019. The buffet selection had grown by then, but the food quality was abysmal and the wines were cheap. The furniture was tired, the décor was dated, and the building exuded the vibe of a past-its-prime Sheraton– impressive back in its day, but way past its former glory. Overall, the experience was way inferior to any half-decent First or Business Class lounge, and it was painfully obvious that the entire facility needed a major renovation.

So it was welcome news when in 2023, CAG’s chief executive announced plans to transform JetQuay into a “premium travel hub”, with a refreshed interior, 20% more lounge space, new private suites and shopping concierge offerings.

And now, nearly 20 years since the doors first opened, that work has finally begun. I was invited to a media preview of the temporary CIP lounge located within Terminal 2, which will receive guests until the renovations are finished sometime in 2026.

This facility is due to commence operations on 8 September 2025, and here’s what you can expect.

Who gets access to JetQuay?

JetQuay access can be purchased by any passenger departing from Terminals 1 to 4 on a commercial flight with a full-service carrier, or AirAsia. All other low-cost carriers are ineligible.

There are three tiers of JetQuay service: Gateway, Quayside, and Jetside. 

Gateway is the lite version, and does not actually provide access to the JetQuay lounge. It’s basically a glorified meet-and-greet service, where someone receives you at the aerobridge, escorts you through immigration and customs, and drops you in the arrival hall (or the same process in reverse, for departures).

Given how efficient Changi Airport’s setup is, I can’t see any reason to use this service, unless perhaps you were a traveller with special needs.

Quayside (from S$490.50 per passenger, per way) is the mid-tier version which offers access to the JetQuay lounge, private immigration clearance, together with a buggy through the terminal to your departure gate. 

Jetside (from S$1,962 per passenger, per way) is the full-fat version with everything Quayside has to offer, plus the use of a private suite with butler service, champagne and canapes. With Jetside, you won’t even have to set foot in the public terminal. When the time comes to board, you’ll be driven to the aircraft on the tarmac.

Surcharges will apply during certain peak periods like Chinese New Year, the Singapore Airshow and F1. There is also a year-round surcharge for T4 departures, to cover the cost of a tarmac transfer (as you cannot be driven by buggy from the CIP Terminal to T4).

Certain airlines and hotels will provide JetQuay access to their premium customers. STARLUX First Class was mentioned as one example (though the airline no longer offers First Class to Singapore ever since pulling the A350-900 in early 2025) as well as the Raffles Hotel, Fullerton Hotel, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental and St. Regis.

JetQuay is also in discussions with several credit card issuers and private banks to extend lounge access to premium cardholders. I would assume that one of these is Maybank, which offered Visa Infinite cardholders access to JetQuay until the end of 2024.

Overview: Interim JetQuay CIP facility

JetQuay’s temporary home is a stone’s throw away from the existing CIP Terminal, located near Hub & Spoke in Terminal 2. The access road leading to the drop-off point is called, believe it or not, “T2 VIP Drive” (in its former life, the CIP Terminal once hosted diplomats and head of state, who are now received at a more secure facility).

Unlike the current CIP Terminal, with its high walls and security post, the only hint that something exclusive resides here is the presence of a gold-tinted bellhop cart and stanchions, beneath an all-weather awning. It has a rather makeshift feel, but then again, it is.

The CIP lounge is located behind this non-descript door, whose utilitarian appearance belies what’s inside. 

Upon entering, you’re greeted at the concierge desk and ushered into the lounge. 

This space was previously used as a bus gate, as well as a holding area for next-of-kin during crisis situations. It has seating for 150 guests, though I doubt it will ever get close to that capacity. On the other side of the tall glass panels is the T2 tarmac, giving guests a unique vantage point to watch the activity outside.

The interior received a makeover along with the rest of Terminal 2, but JetQuay has added some additional touches of its own (if it feels reminiscent of the Changi Lounge at Jewel, it’s because the same in-house design team is behind both of them). On the whole, it’s a breath of fresh air from the current CIP Terminal, though there’s no mistaking it for anything other than a temporary space to hold the fort until the real thing arrives.

There’s not a lot to discuss in terms of the lounge itself, because it’s basically one long rectangle spanning the length of several gates. Most of the seating consists of sofas and armchairs, and they could have done with a bit more variety, like productivity pods and regular-height dining tables.

That said, there is a small kids’ corner with a small bookshelf, teepee, and a telescope for airplane spotting.

At the rear of the lounge is a dedicated immigration and security screening checkpoint, for passengers who are getting driven to the aircraft directly on the tarmac (if you’re being driven by buggy to the boarding gate, you’ll clear immigration here, but security screening is still done at the gate itself).

Incidentally, the rear is also where you’ll find the other entrance to JetQuay, connected to Terminal 2 (near the F55 gate) and used by arriving or transit passengers. This features prominent JetQuay signage and a living wall, presumably created with Instagram in mind. 

USB-A, USB-C and universal power sockets are readily available throughout the lounge, and guests use the public Changi W-Fi network. There are no wireless charging pads, though wired charging is much more practical in a time-constrained setting like the airport anyway.

Jet Suites

The JetQuay lounge has two private “Jet Suites”, for the exclusive use of passengers who have booked the more expensive Jetside package. These are located at the rear of the lounge, behind privacy partitions.

The first suite is styled as modern living room, with off-white sofas, a low-height coffee table, and a miniature zen garden.

For entertainment, the suite offers a Samsung flat-screen TV, paired with a Devialet Dione soundbar (this particular model retails for S$3,490). Since the suite isn’t fully enclosed, however, I do wonder how loudly you’ll be able to listen to music or movies in practice.

In the suite I spotted JetQuay-branded bathrobes, together with Aesop bath amenities. I wonder if it’ll be possible to request ensuite spa treatments- that would be quite the novelty.

The second suite has a more sophisticated gentleman’s club vibe. The tan leather furniture channels a bit of the pre-renovation Private Room, if you ask me, like a cigar lounge sans the smoke. 

Each of the Jet Suites had a bottle of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs on display (which JetQuay tells me will be available to Quayside guests too). There was also a high tea setup on display, together with blinis which suggest caviar will be on the menu.

A free-flow of Flying Fairy Maotai liquor will be served in the Jet Suites. I don’t know much about this, but I was told it’s one of the better grades.

Food & Beverage

The JetQuay lounge will eventually serve a full buffet, but during the media preview, pre-plated canapes were served on trays. It was perfectly palatable, though I’d be more interested to see what is served on a day-to-day basis. Given the price they’re paying, I would also hope that Jetside customers get to order from an a la carte menu too.

While there will supposedly be a selection of wines, those weren’t on display during the preview. Instead, there was a selection of gins from homegrown brand Singapore Distillery, as well as beers from craft brewery Lion City Meadery.

Non-alcoholic options include Marigold juice, Coke and Sprite, Vitasoy and canned Milo. TWG tea and Starbucks coffee is also offered.

The selection struck me as odd, given that JetQuay positions itself as a platform for premium brands to showcase their products to affluent customers. And to some extent it does, because Aesop and Devialet certainly fit the bill. But at the risk of sounding like a snob – though that’s probably the side to err on when reviewing a place like this – Marigold juice, Vitasoy, and Starbucks coffee do not.

I mean, this Starbucks machine is nothing I haven’t seen at mid-range hotels across the USA. I would have expected barista-made coffee at a minimum, and if Starbucks is your partner, maybe it’s a chance to introduce more people to the Starbucks Reserve brand?

To be clear, no one is saying that well-heeled travellers can’t enjoy the simpler things too. It’s just somewhat jarring to be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars for VIP treatment, asking for juice, and getting a packet that retails for less than 80 cents instead of something freshly-squeezed. I realise there are inherent constraints imposed by the temporary nature of this facility, but when your sticker price is this high, I don’t think guests are wrong to expect more.

But really, this is a problem that has plagued JetQuay since the early days, when whoever was in charge of catering inexplicably thought that they could get away with serving cup noodles as the only hot food option. There has always been a strange disconnect between JetQuay’s marketing and its F&B quality, and I’m really hoping they’ll make genuine improvements on this front. 

Toilets and showers

Before we check out the toilets, let me reiterate that the interim JetQuay CIP facility is still fundamentally a part of Terminal 2. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised that the toilets look and feel very much like public toilets, because they are (well, public toilets with Aesop!).

The ladies room is the smaller of the two, somewhat surprisingly, and has four stalls equipped with manual bidet seats.

There is a single, rather cramped shower cubicle equipped with a piano-key mixer with rain shower, hand shower, and rather perplexingly, bidet spray (I think someone mixed up the positioning of the bidet spray and hand shower!). The generic wall-mounted soap dispensers give a rather YMCA feel, but again, it’s something I’ll give them a pass on because of the temporary nature of this facility. 

The men’s room is much larger, and it’s nice to see a changing table installed here too (we aren’t exempt from diaper duty, you know!).

The shower cubicle here is also more spacious, with enough room for luggage and the same shower setup as the female toilet.

Conclusion

JetQuay’s interim CIP facility is set to open in September 2025, as the CIP Terminal closes for a much-needed renovation.

While the temporary space is certainly an improvement, it still falls short of what many First and Business Class lounges at Changi offer-  no bar, no workstations, no private shower suites, no nap pods. And the jury’s still out as to whether JetQuay can elevate its catering, and banish the ghosts of instant noodle past.

The key benefit that JetQuay offers is privacy, and if being far from the madding crowd is of utmost importance (and Seletar Airport isn’t an option), then perhaps one could justify the price of admission.

Otherwise, the real test will be when the new-and-improved JetQuay terminal reopens in 2026, and I hope that Changi will finally have a facility to match its stellar reputation.