Last month we reported on Changi Airport Group’s announcement that it would reopen Terminal 4 in September 2022, thanks to a significant boost in travel demand after Singapore reopened her borders to fully vaccinated travellers from around the world.
Now there’s confirmation of an official reopening date for the facility of 13th September 2022, with sixteen airlines moving across to the terminal by late October 2022, including a surprise move for Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Australia.
The reopening of Terminal 4 in time for the northern winter season will primarily relieve the pressure from Terminal 1, with most airlines making the move from there.
Which airlines are moving to T4?
Here’s the full list of airlines moving to Terminal 4, based on the date their operations will shift from the existing terminals for each carrier.
Airlines moving to Changi T4
| Airline | Current Terminal |
Relocation date | |
 |
Cathay Pacific (CX) |
 |
13 September |
 |
Korean Air (KE) |
|
13 September |
 |
AirAsia (AK, FD, QZ, Z2) |
|
15 September |
 |
Bamboo Airways (QH) |
|
20 September |
 |
Cebu Pacific (5J) |
|
20 September |
 |
HK Express (UO) |
|
20 September |
 |
Jeju Air (7C) |
|
20 September |
 |
Juneyao Airlines (HO) |
|
20 September |
 |
VietJet (VJ, VZ) |
 |
22 September |
 |
Vietnam Airlines (VN) |
|
22 September |
 |
Jetstar (3K, JQ) |
|
25 October |
As you can see, practically all former T4 operators are making their way back to the terminal in September, with the addition of Bamboo Airways and HK Express who started operating at Changi since T4’s temporary closure in May 2020.
The biggest surprise is the addition of Jetstar Asia (3K) and Jetstar Australia (JQ) to the list of T4 tenants, with the group’s operations being split from parent company Qantas from 25th October this year.
This isn’t great news for Jetstar’s connecting passengers, since the carrier interlines with several T1 operators, not least Qantas and Emirates.
Jetstar passengers holding Qantas Platinum One, Platinum or Gold status will also have a much harder job of using the Qantas First Class and Business Class lounges over in T1 prior to their departure as a result of this move, with a ride on the airside shuttle bus adding to their journey time and cutting down on all-important lounge time.
Which airlines aren’t moving back?
The following airlines that formerly operated to and from Terminal 4 have not yet restarted passenger flights at Changi since the onset of the pandemic.
At the time of writing these carriers have also not announced any plans to fly to Singapore again by September 2022, when T4 reopens.
T4 Airlines yet to restart operations at Changi
| Airline | Notes | |
|
AirAsia X (D7) |
Operated 14 times weekly to Kuala Lumpur using Airbus A330s |
 |
Go Air* (G8) |
Operated 4 times weekly to Bengaluru and 3 times weekly to Kolkata using Airbus A320s* |
 |
GX Airlines (GX) |
Operated 7 times weekly to Nanning and 7 times weekly to Lanzhou using Airbus A320s |
 |
Hainan Airlines (HU) |
Operated 3 times weekly to Haikou using Boeing 737-800s |
 |
Regent Airways (RX) |
Operated 3 times weekly to Dhaka using Boeing 737-700s |
 |
Spring Airlines (9C) |
Operated 7 times weekly to Shanghai using Airbus A320s |
 |
Urumqi Air (UQ) |
Operated 5 times weekly to Urumqi via Wuhan using Boeing 737-800s |
* Go Air ceased flying to and from Singapore in early February 2020. This was unrelated to COVID-19.
These airlines, with 46 weekly departures between them, only accounted for around 9% of T4’s flight volumes pre-COVID.
As and when they reinstate services at Changi after September 2022, these carriers are expected to operate from T4 once again.
T4 lounges
Terminal 4 is home to two lounges, the Cathay Pacific Lounge and the third-party Blossom Lounge, the latter being a joint venture between SATS and Plaza Premium Group.
Both facilities are located on the mezzanine level above the main departures concourse, after immigration and security, and we’ve got reviews from our visits when they first opened, back in late 2017.
We expect the third-party Blossom Lounge will reopen to coincide with T4 flight departure timings.
CAG has already alluded to this in its press release.
CAG is also working with the lounge operator at T4 on suitable arrangements to cater to the needs of passengers.
Changi Airport Group
The good news is that this facility was spared from the Priority Pass – Plaza Premium divorce of mid-2021, meaning many of our readers holding a credit card with a Priority Pass attached will still enjoy access here.
Unfortunately, Cathay Pacific is currently running a skeleton schedule of just three weekly departures from Singapore to Hong Kong, a far cry from its pre-COVID tally of 63 weekly flights to both Hong Kong and Bangkok.
At the time of writing, the airline is planning the same measly volume of flights from Changi in September 2022, when T4 reopens.
That would be nowhere near enough passenger volume to justify any opening of its own dedicated lounge, especially considering that no other oneworld carriers will fly from T4.
It will take a policy shift for Hong Kong’s borders and COVID-19 flight restrictions to allow the airline to ramp up flights from Changi and connect more significantly to its main hub once again.
In turn that will allow this top-notch lounge, complete with a great Noodle Bar, to open its doors again. Let’s hope for good news from Hong Kong in due course!
Changi’s ‘disconnected’ terminal
If you ever flew to or from Changi T4 prior to its closure, you’ll no doubt remember one relative uniqueness about it compared to the other terminals – it’s not physically connected to them!
Prior to COVID-19, T4 was linked to T2 (and the Airport MRT station) via 24-hour bus service, running every 10 minutes during the day or every 20 minutes overnight.
At the airside (transit) area of T4 beyond immigration and security, there was a bus link to T2’s gate F51 (which, incidentally, is in T2’s reopened section, so looks set to be reinstated). Before COVID-19, the T4⇄T2 service at the transit side ran every 24 minutes.
Here’s what CAG has announced for intra-terminal links from T4’s reopening.
Shuttle bus services on both the landside and airside will provide connection for passengers and visitors between T4 and the other terminals. Besides taxi and private-hire vehicles, T4 will also be served by public buses (service numbers 24, 34, 36 and 110).
Changi Airport Group
T4 does of course feature its own parking facilities, taxi and ride-hailing pick-up options, for those taking private transport to and from the city.
T4 hasn’t been totally disused
Terminal 4 wasn’t completely redundant during its closure over the last two years.
Despite hosting no regular passenger operations, it was used as a vaccination centre for aviation workers, and later as a routine testing facility for airport staff, who required swabs every few days at one stage during the pandemic, in order to continue working in their roles.
Mainly Miles understands that most routine testing for aviation employees in Singapore has now moved to online self-swab ART reporting, removing the need for any space in T4 for this purpose.
Many of T4’s gates have also been used to park stored aircraft, including disused Singapore Airlines Airbus A380s, four of which were parked at the terminal’s wide-body gates for several months.
During the initial phase of the pandemic in mid 2020, T4 looked as though it had been taken over by Jetstar Asia! At least nine of the carrier’s A320s were stored at the terminal’s smaller gates.
Ironically this will now become a more familiar sight, with the Qantas Group low-cost carrier moving to the terminal from late October this year.
Summary
Singapore Changi Airport’s newest Terminal – T4 – will reopen its doors on 13th September 2022, primarily taking the strain off T1, with a total of 15 airlines making the move across to the facility by the end of that month.
The biggest surprise is that Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Australia will also relocate to T4, from 25th October 2022, which will make connections between those carriers and parent company Qantas, not to mention other interline partners like Emirates and Finnair, a far more complex affair for passengers to contend with.
Eligible Qantas frequent flyers will also be deprived of their current T1 lounges, unless they are willing to make the long journey across to T1 on the airside transit shuttle bus (and allow sufficient time to get back!).
It looks like T4’s sole third-party ‘Blossom Lounge’ will be available at some stage, hopefully from the reopening date, including to those holding a Priority Pass, though we may have to wait some time for the shutters to be lifted on the popular Cathay Pacific Lounge.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
I believe Jetstar has said that they would not be moving? For connectivity reasons outlined above
How not to move? Airport allocates gates at T4. Pilots have no choice.