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  • Changi Airport - wrong terminal

    Two weeks ago, I arrived back to Changi via SQ21 on the A345. They announced on the flight that they would be docking at T2; SQ21 normally docks at T3. In fact, it docked at gate E28, which at that time I was not aware. Some of you, road warriors, would know that Gate E28 is right on the border of T1 (in fact I would argue that it is more T1 than T2).

    Being jet-lagged and zoned-out, I walked out of the plane with my brains on auto. As I came out of the gangway, I looked straight and there was the sign that says "Arrival" straight ahead of me. I walked straight towards it and within 50m, I was heading down the escalator to Immigration. Since I've not been to T1 in ages, I assumed I was in the renovated T2 (which I've also not been to in ages). Went through passport control, and decided to buy a couple of bottles of wine at the DFS, that I should have bought in the US, only to be told by the check-out auntie that I was actually in Terminal 1! (I'm glad she did!)

    When I went back to the Immigration gate, I had to explain to them the situation, in order to re-enter air-side to get to T2. From their tone of voice and body-language, it came across to me as, "Oh, you are one of those blur ones we get all the time with this same problem".

    Has anyone here who have had the same experience as I have? Presumably, there would've been directional signs to T2 as I exited the gangway, but I was not attentive enough to see them. I remember seeing some staff at the gate, but I presume they were directing people to connecting flights.

  • #2
    Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
    When I went back to the Immigration gate, I had to explain to them the situation, in order to re-enter air-side to get to T2. From their tone of voice and body-language, it came across to me as, "Oh, you are one of those blur ones we get all the time with this same problem".
    I'm not quite with you here. Are you saying you went back through immigration at T1 just so you could enter Singapore via immigration in the terminal you arrived at ?. If so, why did you need to go back through anyway ?. I've entered through T2 when arriving at T3 and vv a number of times and I can't imagine it matters what terminal you go through immigration.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
      I'm not quite with you here. Are you saying you went back through immigration at T1 just so you could enter Singapore via immigration in the terminal you arrived at ?. If so, why did you need to go back through anyway ?. I've entered through T2 when arriving at T3 and vv a number of times and I can't imagine it matters what terminal you go through immigration.
      Yup, MAN Flyer, I had to go back to T2 to get my bags. And yes, if I had no checked luggage, it wouldn't have mattered.

      Comment


      • #4
        Once I arrived at T1, and the immigration queues were so long that for a moment I thought I had arrived in BKK. I hopped over to T3 where there was not a single passenger at immigration and was out in 2 mins.

        It took another 7 mins to get to T1's arrival hall where I approached the Baggage Services counter and put on my blur and tired face. Told them I forgot to claim my bags and the guard wouldn't let back me in, so they just took my BP and asked me for a description of my bag.

        They sent someone in and he returned in 3 mins

        In all, about 22 mins, versus the horrendous queues which would have taken well over 30 mins. Not to mention the calories burnt along the way

        Edit: CarbonMan, any idea why SQ21 arrived at T2? Not like there are any 345 flights from T2 anyway.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by MAN Flyer View Post
          I'm not quite with you here. Are you saying you went back through immigration at T1 just so you could enter Singapore via immigration in the terminal you arrived at ?. If so, why did you need to go back through anyway ?. I've entered through T2 when arriving at T3 and vv a number of times and I can't imagine it matters what terminal you go through immigration.
          How do you claim your check in bag(s)?

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
            Yup, MAN Flyer, I had to go back to T2 to get my bags. And yes, if I had no checked luggage, it wouldn't have mattered.
            Ah, as I rarely travel with checked luggage I didn't think about that.

            Originally posted by cscs1956 View Post
            How do you claim your check in bag(s)?
            See above.

            Comment


            • #7
              Be glad that this is Singapore and not elsewhere, eg London, USA, China where you have more than just explaning that you're a blur case.

              Comment


              • #8
                Arrived at Terminal 1, luggage handled at Terminal 2
                March 05, 2012
                Straits Times
                (c) 2012 Singapore Press Holdings Limited


                I ARRIVED at Changi Airport's Terminal 1 on Flight SQ425 yesterday. After clearing Customs, I went to buy some beer at the DFS shop.

                While queueing, I saw a fellow passenger being asked to make his purchase at the DFS shop at Terminal 2 instead. He dropped the items and walked off with a look of frustration.

                When it came to my turn, a staff member explained that passengers who arrived on my flight were supposed to make their purchases at the Terminal 2 DFS shop, as the luggage handling was done at that terminal. She said this was because my point of disembarkation was 'very near' Terminal 1.

                This piece of information came as a surprise, and no one in the queue was aware of this at all. Why did the crew on board not advise the passengers prior to landing?

                Can a passenger clear Customs at Terminal 1 while his luggage is being handled at Terminal 2? And how does he make his way from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 without violating security regulations?

                I had no check-in luggage, but I could imagine the frustration and confusion of the other passengers. This could give foreign visitors a bad impression of the country.

                I was embarrassed to overhear one Singaporean passenger saying: 'This cannot happen in Singapore.'

                The relevant organisations need to provide an explanation.

                Song Heng Mun



                ------


                Why you may arrive at T1 while your luggage lands in T2
                March 10, 2012
                Straits Times
                (c) 2012 Singapore Press Holdings Limited


                WE THANK Mr Song Heng Mun for his letter on Monday ('Arrived at Terminal 1, luggage handled at Terminal 2'; Forum Online).

                Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 425 was scheduled to arrive at Terminal 2 (T2) on Sunday.

                On arrival, the aircraft was assigned to Terminal 1 (T1) Gate D41, which was the nearest available gate to T2. The change was effected due to works to upgrade passenger loading bridges at T2.

                Nevertheless, baggage collection is carried out at the terminal in which the flight is scheduled to arrive. This is because meeters and greeters will be waiting for passengers at the scheduled arrival hall.

                This is not a new operational practice. Signs will guide arriving passengers to the T2 immigration counters and baggage claim hall. Staff are also deployed to guide arriving passengers and those with connecting flights.

                We are sorry that some passengers on SQ 425 were unnecessarily inconvenienced when they proceeded to the immigration counters at T1 instead. We will tighten our ground coordination to prevent a recurrence.

                The airport's main terminal buildings are connected and passengers can move from one terminal to another. Security is not compromised as measures are in place to segregate public and transit areas.

                We apologise for the confusion and inconvenience caused to passengers of Flight SQ 425.

                Yeo Kia Thye
                Senior Vice-President, Airport Operations
                Changi Airport Group

                Xavier Lim
                Divisional Vice-President, Customer Services
                Singapore Airlines

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by SilverChris View Post

                  Edit: CarbonMan, any idea why SQ21 arrived at T2? Not like there are any 345 flights from T2 anyway.
                  Any aircraft that is expecting a long layover at T3 is usually given the arrival gate D41 to save the hassle of towing the aircraft. I noticed that most of the times, it's A345 or B744(SQ25) that was allocated this bay. It also happens to 9W or IT which are occasionally allocated bay C1.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by boing View Post
                    Any aircraft that is expecting a long layover at T3 is usually given the arrival gate D41 to save the hassle of towing the aircraft. I noticed that most of the times, it's A345 or B744(SQ25) that was allocated this bay. It also happens to 9W or IT which are occasionally allocated bay C1.
                    I've been taking SQ21 a fair number of times this last year, and this is the first time it parked at T2 instead of T3. Under normal circumstances, it should fly back to EWR at 1100, which means a turnaround of 5 hours. Is that long by Changi standards, Boing?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Singapore_Air View Post
                      Arrived at Terminal 1, luggage handled at Terminal 2
                      March 05, 2012
                      Straits Times
                      (c) 2012 Singapore Press Holdings Limited


                      I ARRIVED at Changi Airport's Terminal 1 on Flight SQ425 yesterday. After clearing Customs, I went to buy some beer at the DFS shop.

                      While queueing, I saw a fellow passenger being asked to make his purchase at the DFS shop at Terminal 2 instead. He dropped the items and walked off with a look of frustration.

                      When it came to my turn, a staff member explained that passengers who arrived on my flight were supposed to make their purchases at the Terminal 2 DFS shop, as the luggage handling was done at that terminal. She said this was because my point of disembarkation was 'very near' Terminal 1.

                      This piece of information came as a surprise, and no one in the queue was aware of this at all. Why did the crew on board not advise the passengers prior to landing?

                      Can a passenger clear Customs at Terminal 1 while his luggage is being handled at Terminal 2? And how does he make his way from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 without violating security regulations?

                      I had no check-in luggage, but I could imagine the frustration and confusion of the other passengers. This could give foreign visitors a bad impression of the country.

                      I was embarrassed to overhear one Singaporean passenger saying: 'This cannot happen in Singapore.'

                      The relevant organisations need to provide an explanation.

                      Song Heng Mun



                      ------


                      Why you may arrive at T1 while your luggage lands in T2[FONT=Arial][FONT=Arial]
                      This happened a few days after me. Wonder why we didn't hear of this before - was it less of a problem? Were some signages changed? Finding this very coincidental.

                      I guess, I'm glad I wasn't the only blur one.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
                        I've been taking SQ21 a fair number of times this last year, and this is the first time it parked at T2 instead of T3. Under normal circumstances, it should fly back to EWR at 1100, which means a turnaround of 5 hours. Is that long by Changi standards, Boing?
                        There are no hard and fast rules as to the time norm that requires a towing. It's usually around the 6 to 8 hour mark. The final discretion lies with CAG.
                        From what I know, SIA Flight Ops will sent the next allocated flight of all the SQ aircraft that are arriving into SIN and CAG will plan accordingly their parking bays.
                        And the A345s are fairly often taken out of rotation for their scheduled stayover or A checks. Their flying hours sees them requiring these checks at a fairly faster rate than other aircrafts. Hope that helps, Carbonman.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by boing View Post
                          There are no hard and fast rules as to the time norm that requires a towing. It's usually around the 6 to 8 hour mark. The final discretion lies with CAG.
                          From what I know, SIA Flight Ops will sent the next allocated flight of all the SQ aircraft that are arriving into SIN and CAG will plan accordingly their parking bays.
                          And the A345s are fairly often taken out of rotation for their scheduled stayover or A checks. Their flying hours sees them requiring these checks at a fairly faster rate than other aircrafts. Hope that helps, Carbonman.
                          Great info, Boing! Always good to know a little more behind the scenes activities. Thanks.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
                            Great info, Boing! Always good to know a little more behind the scenes activities. Thanks.
                            Anytime

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Singapore_Air View Post
                              Arrived at Terminal 1, luggage handled at Terminal 2
                              March 05, 2012
                              Straits Times
                              (c) 2012 Singapore Press Holdings Limited


                              I ARRIVED at Changi Airport's Terminal 1 on Flight SQ425 yesterday. After clearing Customs, I went to buy some beer at the DFS shop.

                              While queueing, I saw a fellow passenger being asked to make his purchase at the DFS shop at Terminal 2 instead. He dropped the items and walked off with a look of frustration.

                              When it came to my turn, a staff member explained that passengers who arrived on my flight were supposed to make their purchases at the Terminal 2 DFS shop, as the luggage handling was done at that terminal. She said this was because my point of disembarkation was 'very near' Terminal 1.

                              This piece of information came as a surprise, and no one in the queue was aware of this at all. Why did the crew on board not advise the passengers prior to landing?

                              Can a passenger clear Customs at Terminal 1 while his luggage is being handled at Terminal 2? And how does he make his way from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 without violating security regulations?

                              I had no check-in luggage, but I could imagine the frustration and confusion of the other passengers. This could give foreign visitors a bad impression of the country.

                              I was embarrassed to overhear one Singaporean passenger saying: 'This cannot happen in Singapore.'

                              The relevant organisations need to provide an explanation.

                              Song Heng Mun



                              ------


                              Why you may arrive at T1 while your luggage lands in T2
                              March 10, 2012
                              Straits Times
                              (c) 2012 Singapore Press Holdings Limited


                              WE THANK Mr Song Heng Mun for his letter on Monday ('Arrived at Terminal 1, luggage handled at Terminal 2'; Forum Online).

                              Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 425 was scheduled to arrive at Terminal 2 (T2) on Sunday.

                              On arrival, the aircraft was assigned to Terminal 1 (T1) Gate D41, which was the nearest available gate to T2. The change was effected due to works to upgrade passenger loading bridges at T2.

                              Nevertheless, baggage collection is carried out at the terminal in which the flight is scheduled to arrive. This is because meeters and greeters will be waiting for passengers at the scheduled arrival hall.

                              This is not a new operational practice. Signs will guide arriving passengers to the T2 immigration counters and baggage claim hall. Staff are also deployed to guide arriving passengers and those with connecting flights.

                              We are sorry that some passengers on SQ 425 were unnecessarily inconvenienced when they proceeded to the immigration counters at T1 instead. We will tighten our ground coordination to prevent a recurrence.

                              The airport's main terminal buildings are connected and passengers can move from one terminal to another. Security is not compromised as measures are in place to segregate public and transit areas.

                              We apologise for the confusion and inconvenience caused to passengers of Flight SQ 425.

                              Yeo Kia Thye
                              Senior Vice-President, Airport Operations
                              Changi Airport Group

                              Xavier Lim
                              Divisional Vice-President, Customer Services
                              Singapore Airlines
                              Dont think this kind of reply is acceptable in the first place. Does it means for some other reason that T2 is busy and it landed up by assigning to T3. You will still need to collect yor bags and meeters? As the flight was originally scheduled to T2?

                              Clearly, those staffs that deployed to do to work does not worked as directed and hence many has missed and went over to T1.

                              Comment

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