Opening Remarks by Minister for Transport Mr S Iswaran at the Annual Airport Celebration 2022

Mr Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Executive Officer, Changi Airport Group 

Friends and Colleagues from the Aviation Community, 

1.     I am absolutely delighted to be here with all of you today at the Annual Airport Celebration 2022 to celebrate the airport community’s contributions to our Changi air hub. I think we can all agree, indeed, there is much for us to rejoice and be thankful for since the last Celebration which was held two years ago.

2.     The pandemic as we all know has exacted a gruelling toll on all of us in the aviation sector and the broader Changi community. Working conditions were challenging, especially for those of you at the front line who had to go through repeated testing and enhanced Safe Management Measures, and many other adjustments. We were very grateful and inspired for your resilience as you soldiered on, so that we could keep our air hub open.

3.     As a community, we also came together, bonded and supported one another through the crisis. We had ground-up initiatives such as the “Friends for Aviation”, which supported our front-line workers by providing EZ-link cards, helping to defray some of the transport costs of these workers who had to travel more often due to the repeated testing regime that was in place then.

4.     While we are not yet out of the woods, the past six months have given us much reason to be hopeful about the post-pandemic recovery of air travel.

Changi’s Workers – Key to the Success of our Air Hub

5.     I just returned from a trip to Indonesia, and was very happy to see Changi Airport bustling with passengers, with all four of its terminals now open. It was a far cry from the sight that greeted me about a year ago when I first came into the ministry and visited Changi Airport. Even then, in my conversations with everyone – the frontline staff, the union leaders, the management team, our partners in the immigration side – I could sense that there was a deep resolve that we will recover and emerge stronger. It has been a tremendous journey, something that is unforgettable for many of us, but one that we can look back on with pride. 

6.     Since the re-opening to all fully-vaccinated travellers six months ago, we have recovered two-thirds of our pre-COVID passenger city links, and have added new city links to our Changi network, such as to Noumea in New Caledonia, Vancouver in Canada, and Jeju in South Korea. The number of flights, and passenger volumes at Changi Airport have also seen good recovery, to around two-thirds of pre-COVID-19 levels.

7.     The ramp-up of our operations in recent months has not been easy. It is each and every one of you – the members of the Changi community – that have made possible this remarkable recovery in just over half a year. Our workers – all of you – anchor the OneAviation ecosystem. From the friendly smiles at the check-in counters, to loading and unloading bays, and to the hours of planning to ensure operations flow smoothly: you make our air hub tick. I want therefore to take this opportunity today to thank each and every member of the aviation community, and especially all our front-liners, for your dedication and contributions. Thank you very much. 

8.     This commitment and unwavering dedication to upholding excellence is evident to everyone. Changi Airport’s frontline staff have been accorded ‘The World’s Best Airport Staff’ award by Skytrax for two years running in 2021 and 2022. This is a well-deserved accolade, and I want to extend my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all staff at Changi Airport.

Preparing a Future-Ready Changi Workforce

9.     Looking ahead, we have good reasons to be optimistic about the longer-term prospects for aviation growth in the Asia-Pacific. The growth of neighbouring economies and a rising middle class in Southeast Asia and South Asia will drive the demand for air travel in our region over the next few decades. This is why we restarted work on T5, which we expect to be ready by the mid-2030s to meet the anticipated demand.

10.    However, it is not only our capacity, but also our capabilities that we have to enhance. 

11.    To secure the next bound of growth for the Changi air hub, we will work hard to build our aviation workforce, and equip them with the knowledge and skillsets to innovate, seize new opportunities and adapt to disruptions. It is only by investing in and growing our pool of aviation professionals will we be able to bring to fruition our vision of a more efficient, sustainable, and resilient aviation ecosystem.

12.    As a sector, we have recognised this need and have intensified hiring, not just by bringing back the workers who had left the sector during the pandemic, but also taking steps to attract fresh graduates and mid-career entrants. I am very encouraged by how the sector has rallied together to promote aviation careers, from the OneAviation Careers Fair in May which drew 11,000 visitors, to the OneAviation Careers Hub web portal launched by CAAS, NTUC Aerospace & Aviation cluster and NTUC’s e2i last week, which provides employment and employability support for the sector and bridges job-seekers to careers in aviation.

13.    The efforts of individual companies and the aviation community as a whole have enabled the sector to attract over 6,000 new workers to the aviation workforce so far this year. This is no mean feat, without which our air travel recovery would have been constrained. I know the community is putting equal effort into the training and upskilling of the workforce, to sustain the safety and service performance that the Changi Air Hub is renowned for.

14.    Looking ahead, there are many new and emerging careers in the aviation sector in areas such as digitalisation, automation, autonomous technology, and sustainability. And you, in the OneAviation community, will be at the heart of this exciting growth journey. It is therefore important that we continue to innovate, enhance our capabilities, whilst push new boundaries to create a better, smarter, and more sustainable future for the aviation industry.

Conclusion

15.    If I may conclude, I want to once again recognise all the people in our aviation community. Your resilience, commitment, and hard work has been the key to our success and our ability to navigate and emerge from the pandemic.

16.    As the sector recovers, we will need to continue to work together to push the frontiers of innovation and excellence, develop a future-ready workforce and preserve Changi’s status as a world-class international aviation hub, something that we all take great pride in. 

17.    Once again, I would like to thank all our aviation ecosystem partners, our workers and our unions for your invaluable contributions and sacrifices for the sector. I would want to offer my sincere congratulations to the winners of this year’s Annual Airport Celebration. 

18.    Thank you very much, and have a great evening.