Changi Airport Terminal 3 (T3) will undergo a major upgrade, with a tender to be called in the second half of 2026, Singapore’s Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow announced. Work is set to begin by the end of 2026, as reported by The Straits Times.
The upgrade will see more digital technologies and robotics integrated into T3 for self-service check-in, security screening and toilet cleaning. Some of these solutions will function as test beds to be rolled out on a larger scale when Terminal 5 (T5) begins operations in the mid-2030s, he added.
Mr Siow said the main objective of the upgrade is to improve the terminal’s passenger handling capacity, especially during peak hours. T3 opened in January 2008.
Changi Airport Group (CAG) chief executive Yam Kum Weng said at the event that the upgrade will include a 65 per cent expansion of early bag storage capacity at the terminal, to support rising demand for early check-in and growing transfer volumes at the airport.
More bus gates will also be installed at T3 – rising from the existing three to seven – to handle more flights during peak periods. Bus gates serve planes parked at remote stands, which do not have aerobridges that are connected directly to the terminals.
The Skytrain’s operating fleet will be expanded by almost 30 per cent, and that a new inter-terminal baggage system – to provide a second transfer path between T1 and T3 – will be built. This will ease pressure on the existing baggage system and reduce the need to tow baggage between terminals over the next decade before T5 opens, he said.
Next-gen 777-9 aircraft to land in Q2
By the second quarter of 2026, more than 50 of the over 180 aircraft stands across Changi Airport will be able to support the new and longer Boeing 777-9 planes, which place higher loads on pavement infrastructure.
The next-generation Boeing aircraft is set to be delivered from 2027. Singapore Airlines has 31 on order.
Check-in services at selected hotels
Another feature is the launch of a new “off-airport” check-in service, which will allow passengers to check in for flights and drop off their luggage at selected city-centre hotels.
Under the first phase, which will start in the coming months, the service will be available to Singapore Airlines’ passengers who are guests at The Fullerton Hotel, The Fullerton Bay Hotel, and Marina Bay Sands. Their luggage will be securely transferred to Changi Airport and loaded onto departing aircraft.
Increased capacity
The new T5 will increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity by more than 55 per cent, from 90 million to 140 million. Changi Airport handled over 70 million passengers in 2025.
The T3 upgrade is part of $3 billion investment to upgrade the existing Terminals 1 to 4.
Mr Siow said the aviation industry will remain on an upward trajectory in the long term, despite the immediate problems from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
While Changi Airport recorded an increase in air traffic in March, as some airlines rerouted flights due to the conflict, Mr Yam said the airport is starting to see this moderate. Some airlines are scaling back flights in April and the coming months as a result of high fuel prices.
At present, nearly 100 airlines connect Singapore to 175 cities worldwide via Changi Airport.
Did you know
T3 features the world’s first butterfly garden in an airport that is designed as a tropical butterfly paradise with a profusion of flowering plants, lush greenery and a 6m grotto waterfall. Passengers can view over 1,000 tropical butterflies from as many as 40 species across the different seasons of the year.
Photo credit: @Tim Griffith for SOM
