In the good old days (i.e. before Covid-19), people who couldn’t wait to see their loved ones could give them a warm greeting as they arrived at Changi Airport.
Thanks to the pandemic, this hasn’t been happening since early 2020, as most inbound travellers faced isolation instead of warm embraces.
Now that Singapore’s selectively opened up for air travel, rules have also been relaxed to allow passengers from low-risk countries/regions to be picked up at Changi Airport’s arrival halls.
However, some restrictions will still be in place – for example, only 1 person per passenger group is allowed to enter.
In a travel update to its website on Friday (15 Oct), Changi Airport said arriving passengers can now be picked up at the arrival halls of Terminals 1 and 3.
This follows the reopening of the airport to the public on 1 Sep after it was closed for more than 3 months due to a cluster.
However, passengers eligible for this pick-up must have arrived from low-risk countries/regions.
These places are in Categories I and II of the current Travel Health Control Measures.
For example, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are in Category I, while countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are in Category II.
Check out the Immigation & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) website for an updated list of these places.
While pre-Covid-19, people had unfettered access to pick up anyone they liked, it hasn’t reached that stage at Changi Airport yet.
It’s still not possible for the whole village to pick someone up at the airport, as only 1 representative is allowed per arriving passenger group.
So choose that person wisely, as he or she will be 1st person the traveller will be greeted by.
That person will also have to prove their connection to the passenger – by presenting their flight itinerary to gain entry into the arrival hall.
For professional services like hotel, transport and company representatives, they’ll need an authorisation letter/email from their company to enter.
This can be furnished only after the flight has landed – so don’t come too early.
As expected, both passenger and receiver won’t be allowed to wander around the airport as they please.
There’s a prescribed path to take based on zonal segregation to minimise interaction with the general public.
For T1 pickups, the greeter should park at any level of the T1 carpark and follow this route:
Basically, they’ll have to enter T1 from the carpark via Lift Lobby A, and exit via the Lift Lobby B back to the carpark after the meeting.
Alternatively, they may wish to stay in their vehicles and pick up the passenger from T1 B1 Arrival pick-up point.
T3 pickups are slightly more troublesome as the greeter must park at T3 Carpark 3A, at level B1.
They’ll then have to take the lift to the arrival hall and a separate lift back to B1 after the meeting. Here’s the route:
They can also pick up the passenger via T3 B1 Arrival Pick-Up point, Door 1 or Door 2.
As Changi Airport progressively opens up, they’ll expect to receive more arriving passengers.
Thus, allowing these passengers to be received by a familiar face like old times will bring us closer to the new normal that we’re hoping for.
However, the pandemic definitely isn’t over yet, so hopefully safety measures will be followed by all to prevent avoidable Covid-19 transmission.
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Featured image adapted from MS News.
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