Changi: in a league of its own

I’m writing this in Singapore, my home for the next week as I make progress on our special publication to mark Changi Airport’s 30th anniversary and the renovation of Terminal 1. When travelling, my colleague Martin Moodie is fond of opening a new bureau in whatever country he finds himself in, but I am unable to break new ground in that sense, with Singapore already home to a well-established Moodie Report office headed by my redoubtable colleague Melody Ng.

Singapore feels like a home from home in plenty of other ways. Like many members of the travel retail industry, I feel I know Changi pretty well – but that’s not to say the airport has lost its capacity to surprise. My arrival this week was a case in point. Changi, and Singapore in general, has built its reputation on efficiency, but yesterday morning was perhaps the most hassle-free experience I’ve ever had after a long-haul flight. From the wheels on my Singapore Airlines A380 touching down, to my taxi beginning its journey downtown, only twenty minutes elapsed. And much of that time was spent admiring the view within Terminal 3, surely one of the most striking and pleasant new airport buildings of the last 10 years.

There are regrettably few airports in the world at which you look forward to arriving. For me, Changi is top in that regard. Over the next few days I’ll be exploring how the airport and its concessionaires have set new standards in retail and F&B. It should make for an interesting read in our special publication, Singapore Changi Airport: 30 years of excellence. Look out for it in May.