Changi Airport to Offer a Contactless Travel Experience

The ongoing pandemic situation means airports across the world are taking extra measures to make travel safer. The latest to announce such measures is Singapore's Changi Airport which has taken various initiatives to ensure contactless travel.

The airport,&nbspwhich has been voted the Best Airport in Asia seven years in a row, has launched a series of inititaives which, when completely in place, will ensure peace of mind for anxious travellers. Here are some

Kiosks across terminal 1 and terminal 3 will be fitted with proximity touch screens along with infrared sensors to track finger movements. This will ensure that people do not touch the screen and allow contactless check-in and baggage drop process.&nbspThis is the first time an airport will be equipped with infrared sensors. 

Similarly, infrared technology has been used in elevators to allow passengers to get to the desired floor by hovering their hand over the sensor for activating the lift button.

For people who wish to use check-in counters, acrylic screens have been installed between the passengers and airport officials. These screens are also being installed at immigration, customs, GST refund and information booths.

The cleaning process will be taken over by automated cleaning robots fitted with a misting attachment which disinfects the surface after the cleaning process is over.

Even toilets have been upgraded for complete contactless experience thanks to door-less entry, auto-flush, auto-taps and auto-soap dispensers.

Immigration clearance points will not be manned by humans. Instead multi-modal biometric systems are being put in place. This system will replace traditional fingerprint scanning. Instead, identity verification will be done through iris and facial biometrics.

Every touch screen, and immigration lane at the airport will be disinfected regularly.&nbspChangi Airport Group is testing the use of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) LEDs to disinfect the handrails of escalators. For passenger lifts, they are testing contactless infrared technology where people will can just hover their finger over lift buttons to activate them.

Singapore is in phase 2 of its lockdown. The country has opened up hotels (with around 25% occupancy limit), and movie theatres.&nbspCasinos, restaurants and shopping malls were re-opened in the .