SINGAPORE – A contract worth $999 million for the construction of underground tunnels at Changi Airport’s Terminal 5 (T5) has been awarded to a joint venture between a Japanese construction company and a Singapore-based construction and civil engineering firm.

Construction of the tunnel system, which will transport passengers and baggage across T5, is expected to take more than four years, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said on June 10, about a month after a groundbreaking ceremony for the terminal.

It will be built by Penta-Ocean Construction and Koh Brothers Building and Civil Engineering Contractor (KBCE).

The tunnel system will house key infrastructure, including automated people-mover systems similar to the Skytrain, as well as baggage-handling systems. There will be two people-mover systems within T5 that can connect departing passengers to their gates and arriving passengers to two arrival immigration halls.

A common services tunnel will contain dry and wet utilities such as electrical power, communication systems and water services. CAG said the works also include a ventilation building that will support this tunnel, and provisions for a future underground infrastructure tunnel.

Changi Airport’s fifth terminal will be as big as Terminals 1 to 4 combined. It is slated to open in the mid-2030s.

Designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year, T5 will effectively double the size of Changi Airport and allow it to handle 140 million passengers yearly – boosting its current capacity of 90 million by more than 55 per cent.

“The award of the (contract) marks another important development in the construction of T5 and the wider Changi East project,” said Mr Ong Chee Chiau, CAG’s managing director for Changi East.

T5 is part of the larger 1,080ha Changi East development that includes Changi Airport’s third runway, as well as cargo complexes and other supporting aviation and ground transport infrastructure. 

Mr Ong said CAG is pleased to partner Penta-Ocean Construction and KBCE as both firms have strong records.

CAG said Penta-Ocean Construction has had a pivotal role in the development of Changi Airport. The firm carried out land reclamation works in the 1970s that enabled the airport’s initial expansion. It also undertook...