SINGAPORE: The Singapore Airshow, which saw a record number of attendees during its trade days, will have plans in place to improve traffic and reduce waiting times as it welcomes members of the public over the weekend.
This includes more shuttle buses, higher service frequency and a dedicated lane for private hire vehicles and taxis, organiser Experia said on Friday (Feb 23).
A record 60,000 attendees were at the event’s trade days from Tuesday to Friday, a 10 per cent increase compared with the previous high in the 2018 edition.
This signals “renewed optimism and recovery” in the aerospace landscape in the Asia Pacific region, said Experia.
“We are aware that there have been longer lines and waiting times for transportation at Singapore Airshow 2024 due to the higher attendance than experienced in previous editions,” Experia managing director Leck Chet Lam told CNA earlier on Friday.
“We have implemented new measures based on usage patterns from data at different times of the day; optimising all the real estate we have to facilitate the flow of traffic.”
With the closure of Tanah Merah Coast Road to non-airshow traffic over the weekend, Experia said six road lanes will be made available, up from the four during the trade days.
The two additional lanes will allow for further enhancements, including a dedicated lane for private hire vehicles and taxis.
Private hire cars and taxis will also be allowed access from Changi Coast Road from 7.30am on Saturday and Sunday.
“We are committed to enhance the visitor experience and have increased the number of shuttle buses to and from Singapore Expo and they will run at a higher frequency,” said the organiser.
Experia had earlier told CNA that it also planned to use larger buses to ferry visitors to and from the Changi Exhibition Centre.
Mr Leck said that the movement of visitors in and out of the event area during the public days will be different from the flow during the trade days.
“We anticipate different weekend traffic patterns, and will implement a scheme to suit the needs of the public; such as city buses with larger capacities that will run at higher frequency intervals,” he said.
“We thank everyone for their patience as we continue to enhance the overall visitor experience for all.”
Members of the public can also take the Airshow Shuttle that is included with each Weekend@Airshow ticket. Attendees travelling to Changi Exhibition Centre can board the shuttle at Singapore Expo, Hall 5.