Terminal 2 at Singapore Changi Airport has been progressively opening more gates for departing and arriving aircraft over the last few weeks, and is now home to 10 airlines, 9 of which operate exclusively at the terminal, and Singapore Airlines, who use it for departures to some destinations and a wider mix of arriving flights.
Later this month the national carrier will further add to this list, with two new routes joining its T2 roster, a change that comes only weeks after three airlines added service at the facility – Air Macau, Ethiopian Airlines and Firefly.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka departures moving to T2
Singapore Airlines currently operates a daily departure to Dhaka – SQ446 at 8.35pm – using Boeing 787-10 aircraft, while there are four times weekly flights to Colombo also using the same aircraft type at 10.20pm every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
These flights will depart from Terminal 2 from 11th April 2023.
“Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights to Dhaka in Bangladesh and Colombo in Sri Lanka will depart from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, from Tuesday, 11 April 2023.
Singapore Airlines
“SIA flights to South East Asia destinations will operate out of Changi Airport Terminal 2, while flights to other destinations will operate out of Changi Airport Terminal 3. “
This will add 11 departures per week to the list of SIA flights operating from Terminal 2, for 352 weekly departures in total, while T3 will handle around 1,400 of the carrier’s weekly departures.
Here’s a list of the Singapore Airlines destinations that will depart from Terminal 2, from 11th April 2023.
- Bangladesh
(DAC) - Brunei
(BWN) - Cambodia
(PNH, REP) - Indonesia
(CGK, DPS, KNO, SUB) - Malaysia
(KUL, PEN) - Myanmar
(RGN) - Philippines
(CEB, DVO, MNL) - Sri Lanka
(CMB) - Thailand
(BKK, HKT) - Vietnam
(DAD, HAN, SGN)
This returns SIA’s T2 operations to the full list of pre-pandemic destination countries, with the exception of the Maldives.
Twice-daily departures from Singapore to Male, using Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft in the morning and Airbus A350 Regional jets in the evening, will continue to use Terminal 3, as will all other SIA departures.
Some ‘E’ Gates and the second transit SkyTrain have reopened
On 27th March 2023, Changi Airport reopened three additional aircraft gates at Terminal 2, meaning that in addition to all the ‘F’ gates along the south and south east piers, three ‘E’ gates on the north east pier are now also in regular use – E1, E2 and E3.
That’s good news for those using the SilverKris Lounges or KrisFlyer Gold Lounge in Terminal 2, which are all located at the north side of the transit area – much closer to these gates.
Today alone, we noticed that nine Singapore Airlines flights departed from one of these three reopened gates.
The second transit SkyTrain, linking T2’s ‘E’ gates with T3’s ‘B’ gates has also reopened, passing through Jewel. This train had already started operating again in 2022, but only with public passenger sections in use.
The additional SkyTrain link will be particularly useful for those arriving at the ‘B’ gates in T3 and transferring to a T2 departure, and it also drops them off closer to the T2 lounges.
Only the transit-side SkyTrain between T1 and T2 (‘D’ gates to ‘E’ gates) now remains closed.
SIA flights can arrive at T1, T2 or T3
It’s important to bear in mind that Singapore Airlines still uses all three of Changi Airport’s main terminals to process arriving flights and passengers, regardless of their origin country, for operational reasons which may include the aircraft’s planned subsequent destination.
For example, a flight from Sydney, Adelaide or Tokyo might arrive into T2, usually because the same aircraft will be used to fly to a T2 destination on its next service.
A flight from Bali or Jakarta, on the other hand, could arrive in T1 or T3 for the same reason.
Arrival terminal information is usually available via SIA’s flight status update within around 6 hours of the scheduled arrival time, but do remember to subscribe to the particular flight of interest, since its arrival terminal can also change in the meantime.
You can still check-in at T3 if you wish
Even if your Singapore Airlines flight is departing from T2, you can still check-in at T3 if you wish, a tactic many of our readers use for easier access to T3’s superior lounges.
You can then take the SkyTrain to T2 when it comes time to board.
Singapore Airlines has confirmed to Mainly Miles that while it of course prefers passengers to check-in and use the lounge in their departing terminal, it is possible to check in and proceed through immigration in T3, even for a T2 departure, saving additional time if this is your lounge use strategy.
“While we encourage customers whose flights are departing from Terminal 2 to check in at the same terminal, they may opt to check in at Terminal 3 as well.
SIA spokesperson
“Eligible customers who wish to use the lounge before their flight may visit the SilverKris Lounge at Terminal 2, or the SilverKris and KrisFlyer Gold lounges at Terminal 3.
“Customers may take the complimentary Changi Airport Skytrain inside the transit area to travel between Terminals 2 and 3. The Changi Airport Skytrain operates daily from 0430hrs to 0130hrs.
“Customers should provision ample time to travel between Terminals 2 and 3, so as to ensure they get to their boarding gate on time.”
Other T2 airlines
There are now 10 airlines operating from Changi Airport Terminal 2, as outlined in the following table.
All Changi Airport T2 Airlines
(from 11th Apr 2023)
| Airline | Started T2 Operations* |
Weekly Departures |
|
 |
Singapore Airlines (SQ) Only South East Asia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka departures |
13 Oct 2022 | 352 |
 |
Air India (AI) |
18 Oct 2022 | 28 |
|
Air India Express (IX) |
14 | |
 |
Royal Brunei Airlines (BI) |
6 Feb 2023 | 8 |
 |
Lufthansa (LH) |
9 Feb 2023 | 13 |
 |
Swiss International Air Lines (LX) |
7 | |
 |
Sichuan Airlines (3U) |
17 Feb 2023 | 7 |
 |
Air Macau (NX) |
23 Mar 2023 | 3 |
 |
Ethiopian Airlines (ET) |
26 Mar 2023 | 8 |
 |
Firefly (FY) |
14 | |
* Post COVID closure
In total, T2 now handles 450 passenger flight departures per week (an average of over 60 per day), based on April 2023 flight schedules.
Summary
From 11th April 2022, SIA flights heading to Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Sri Lanka (Colombo) will depart from Changi Airport Terminal 2 instead of Terminal 3.
With the sole exception of departures to the Maldives, this will return the airline’s list of T2 destinations back to pre-pandemic norms.
T2 itself continues to gradually reopen, with three additional gates on the ‘E’ side now in action, providing better proximity to the SIA lounges, while the SkyTrain link through Jewel now also carries transit passengers too.
For those who prefer the newer T3 lounge facilities, there’s still the option to check-in over there and simply head to your T2 gate via the SkyTrain when it comes time to board.
(Cover Photo: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media / Malcolm Lu)