Mr Gary Ho, senior lecturer in Aviation Administration at Temasek Polytechnic said that “rebalancing” is where an airport tries to make sure that no airport terminal is under- or over-used, so that travellers, staff and air carriers have a pleasant encounter in the terminal.
“In Changi’s case, T4 continues to be mainly used by smaller sized aircrafts and generally budget carriers due to the design and basic passenger flow of the terminal, ” this individual said.
“With the reopening of T4, they are seeking to move some air carriers over to reduce the blockage at T1. inch
TERMINAL 1 “TIGHT” AT PEAK HOURS
Each Mr Ho plus Mr Waldron noted that Jetstar has been operating out of Airport terminal 1 since beginning, with Mr Ho adding that it is generally costly and bothersome for an airline to change terminals.
Besides the possible inconvenience intended for passengers with connecting flights, there are other functional considerations.
“It also requires time for the flight staff to familiarise themselves with the brand new terminal and sometimes, they could be sharing the same ground handling staff members with another companion airline in the fatal, ” he mentioned.
“Thus, the move to a new fatal, could mean lengthy and costly coaching and even hiring of recent ground handling staff members which adds to costs and complexity associated with moving. ”
The situation at Terminal 1 during peak hours is also “a bit tight”, stated Mr Ho.
“As most low priced carriers, with the exception of Air flow Asia, operate from T1, during maximum hours, T1 had been getting a bit limited on gates because the majority of T1’s gates were not designed for thin bodied aircraft specifically.
“Some from the gates in T1 were able to accommodate 2 narrowbodies instead of a widebody but not all entrance have that versatility. Thus, at maximum hour, there was a bottleneck beginning to form, ” he stated.
He furthermore said that as countries open up, there is huge pent-up demand from travellers.
“With T2 still undergoing refurbishment, CAG will be looking forward and anticipating that they would need to keep T1 for as many widebodies as possible so as to prevent a situation exactly where T1 is overcome by traffic while T4 remains relatively quiet, ” he or she said.
The experts said that discussions between Jetstar and CAG should eventually resolve the issue, and CNA understands that a shared study on the move will be commencing.
Mr Waldron said that international airports do face challenges as they gear on with a strong travel rebound.
“Even though airlines and airports complement each other therefore well, sometimes they can have an adversarial relationship as their interests don’t always align, inch he said, pointing to other disputes such as that of AirAsia with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Said Mr Ho: “There are many other solutions to this issue as long as both parties are willing to talk to one another. Many airlines have moved through terminal to airport terminal without a hitch since the airport opened.
“Changi has continually been able to become one of the best airports on earth because all parties work closely to locate a win-win solution for your travelling public at the airport. I hope this particular dispute is just an one-off situation. ”