Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore

Singapore Changi Airport commonly known as Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS), is a major civilian airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. It is currently rated the World's Best Airport by Skytrax for the seventh consecutive year since 2013. It is also the first Airport in the world to do so for seven consecutive years and is one of the world's busiest airports by international passenger and cargo traffic. The airport is located in Changi, at the eastern end of Singapore, approximately 20 km (12 mi) from Marina Bay (Singapore's Downtown Core), on a 13-square-kilometre (5.0 sq mi) site. The airport is operated by Changi Airport Group and it is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines Cargo, SilkAir, Scoot, Jetstar Asia Airways and BOC Aviation.In 2019, Changi served 68.3 million passengers, making it the 16th busiest airport in the world. 

Changi Airport serves more than 100 airlines flying to 380 cities in around 100 countries and territories worldwide, as of 31 December 2019. About 7,400 flights arrive or depart at Changi each week about one every 80 seconds. For the 2019 full-year figures published by the airport, the airport handled 68,300,000 passengers, the most in its 38-year history. This made it the seventh busiest airport by international passenger traffic in the world and the third busiest in Asia. In December 2019, Changi Airport registered a total of 6.41 million passenger movements, the highest the airport has ever achieved in a month since it opened in 1981. Its daily traffic movement record was also broken on 20 December 2019, with 226,692 passengers passing through during that day. In addition to being an important passenger hub, the airport is also one of the busiest cargo airports in the world, handling 2.01 million tonnes of cargo in 2019. The total number of commercial aircraft movements decrease by 1.0% from the previous year to 382,000 in 2019. The airport has won over 620 awards since its opening, including 28 "Best Airport" awards in 2019 alone. Changi Airport's efforts to mitigate the effects of ageing infrastructure include continual physical upgrades to its existing terminals and building new facilities to maintain its high standards in airport service quality.

 

Changi Airport has five main passenger terminals arranged in an elongated inverted 'U' shape with Jewel in the centre of the ‘U’ shape. Currently, the airport has a designed total annual handling capacity of 85 million passengers. 

Terminal 1, opened on 1 July 1981, is located at the northern end. This terminal was renovated in 2019.
Terminal 2, opened on 22 November 1990, is located at the eastern end.
Terminal 3, opened on 9 January 2008, is located at the western end.
Terminal 4, opened on 31 October 2017, is located on the southern side, at the site of the former budget terminal.

There is also a privately run luxury terminal called the JetQuay CIP Terminal. It is similar to the Lufthansa First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport, but is open to all passengers travelling in all classes on all airlines with an access fee. The short-lived Budget Terminal was opened on 26 March 2006 and closed on 25 September 2012 to make way for a larger Terminal 4.

Jewel Changi Airport, opened on 17 April 2019, is a multi-use structure, mainly a shopping mall, interconnecting Terminals 1, 2 and 3. Part of this project will help expand Terminal 1 to handle 24 million passengers per year. Terminal 5 is set to be ready in the mid 2030s. It is expected to handle 50 million passenger movements per annum. The airport terminal structure is projected to be larger than terminals 1, 2 and 3 combined. It will be built on reclaimed land to the east of the present terminals. It will be funded through the newly increased levy. KPF Singapore with Heatherwick Studio, Architects 61, and DP Architects will provide architectural services. Arup Singapore, Mott MacDonald Singapore and Surbana Jurong Consultants will provide engineering services.

For more Information - Singapore Changi Airport

Male International Airport (6 Feet Above Mean Sea Level), Maldives

Male International Airport (IATA: MLE, ICAO: VRMM) is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhule Island in the North Male Atoll, near the capital island Male. Male airport is the main gateway into the Maldives islands for tourists. It is currently the only airport in the country offering international flights.

Malé International Airportalso known as Velana International Airport, previously known as Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhulé Island in the North Malé Atoll, nearby the capital island Malé. Today, the airport is well connected with major airports around the world, mostly serving as the main gateway into the Maldives for tourists. It is managed financially and administratively by an independent corporate entity known as Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL).

The airport first started out as a small strip of land on the then inhabited island of Hulhulé. Hulhulé  Airport was opened on 19 October 1960. The first runway built on Hulhulé Island was made of slotted  steel sheets. The dimensions of this runway were 75 ft × 3,000 ft (23 m × 914 m). The first aircraft which  landed at the airport was a Royal New Zealand Air Force Transport plane on 19 October 1960 at 13:55hrs. The  first commercial flight was an Air Ceylon flight (4R0ACJ) landed on this runway was at 15:50hrs on 10  April 1962. The first aircraft owned by the Maldives landed on the runway of the Hulhulé Airport on 9  October 1974. In May 1964 the government and the people of Malé worked together to construct a new asphalt runway. The four districts of Malé competed for the prize money of 1,000 rufiyaa, awarded to  the fastest district. On the first day 108 volunteers were enlisted for the project and 1,563.08 rufiya was  donated. The new runway was opened on 12 April 1966 at 16:00 by President Ibrahim  Nasir.

When the tourism boom in the Maldives began in 1972, the country was in need of an international standard airport to transport international tourists to the resort islands. So, on 11 November 1981, the airport was officially inaugurated under a new name of "Malé International Airport".

Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) was formed on 1 January 1994 to operate and manage the Male' International Airport. MACL is governed by the board of directors appointed by the President of the Maldives.

The airport resides at an elevation of 6 feet (2 m) above mean sea level. It has one asphalt runway designated 18/36 measuring 45 m × 3,200 m (148 ft × 10,499 ft).  The adjacent waterdrome which serves the large seaplane operations at INIA, has 4 water runways, designated NR/SL, NC/SC, NL/SR and E/W, measuring 60 m × 1,190 m (200 ft × 3,900 ft), 60 m × 1,100 m (200 ft × 3,610 ft), 60 m × 1,000 m (200 ft × 3,280 ft) and 60 m × 800 m (200 ft × 2,620 ft) respectively. Runway NL is takeoff only and runway SR is landing only due to proximity with flying restricted areas.

The airport has 3 terminals. They are the International Terminal, the Domestic Terminal and the waterdrome Seaplane Terminal. The airport includes the corporate headquarters of Trans Maldivian Airways.