SINGAPORE – A new 255-room hotel under the Hotel Indigo boutique brand will open at Changi Airport Terminal 2 (T2) by 2028 – a year later than originally projected.
Airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) said on April 26 that it has awarded a contract to develop and lease the new hotel to real estate group OUE Limited, which also owns the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel at T3.
Hotel Indigo Changi Airport, touted as the first “zero-energy” hotel in Singapore, will be the third landside hotel at the airport. It will be built above the coach stand at the southern end of T2, and will be accessible from the terminal’s departure hall via a linkway.
CAG and OUE said the new hotel will complement the two existing landside hotels, which are the 575-room Crowne Plaza and the 130-room Yotelair Singapore Changi Airport in Jewel, a retail complex at the airport.
Landside refers to areas of the airport that are before immigration clearance and accessible to the public.
Stretching 163m in length, Hotel Indigo Changi Airport will come with facilities such as a rooftop day club, bar and infinity pool that will offer panoramic views of the runway, airport boulevard and skyline, CAG and OUE said.
It will also have “innovative design elements” centred on the concept of a floating forest, with layers of rainforest and hanging plants stretching over seven storeys.
CAG and OUE added that the new hotel will aim to produce as much energy as it consumes through features such as solar panels, hybrid cooling systems, naturally ventilated corridors and rainwater-harvesting technology. These are aimed at reducing the hotel’s environmental impact.
Mr Brian Riady, OUE’s deputy chief executive, said Hotel Indigo Changi Airport will combine energy-efficient design with low-energy operations, while maximising the generation of solar energy on-site.
The tender to develop the new landside hotel at T2 was called in August 2023. CAG said at the time that the new hotel will serve an expected increase in tourist flows around the Changi precinct. It also said then that the hotel was expected to be operational by 2027.
Among the tender requirements were that the new hotel should have at least three to four stars and a “wow factor” that corresponds with the “world-class image and standing” of Changi Airport, while targeting new customer segments.
In all, six bidders took part in the tender. CAG CEO Lee Seow Hiang said on April 26 that OUE’s hotel concept is the most compelling.
“With travel demand continuing to soar and passenger traffic growing beyond pre-Covid-19 levels, the new hotel will elevate the hospitality offerings at Changi Airport. It will serve our visitors well with its differentiated facilities and convenient access to T2,” he added.
Between January and March, 16.5 million passengers passed through Changi Airport, surpassing pre-pandemic levels on a quarterly basis for the first time.
Looking ahead, passenger traffic in South-east Asia is expected to increase by about 9.5 per cent a year over the next two decades, making the region one of the fastest growing in the world, according to aircraft maker Boeing’s estimates.
Over on Changi Airport’s airside – the part of the airport beyond passport control – there also appears to be plans to remodel the transit hotels at T1, T2 and T3 to cater to this growth.
According to a CAG tender notice on April 12, the airport operator intends to study the feasibility of reconfiguring and expanding the three airside hotels – Aerotel Singapore at T1, which has 70 rooms and an outdoor swimming pool, and Ambassador Transit hotels at T2 and T3, which have 83 and 66 rooms, respectively.
Mr Benjamin Cassim, a senior lecturer for the diploma in hospitality and tourism management course at Temasek Polytechnic, said airport hotels are generally for short stays, and primarily serve passengers with extended transits as well as those who have business nearby. He said the Hotel Indigo brand is an ideal choice for the new hotel at T2 as the hotel chain aims to provide guests with home comforts, but in an elevated way.
He added that the new hotel appears to tick some of the boxes in terms of the attractiveness of its planned facilities, and the infinity pool with runway views could end up being a social media hit.
The new hotel being “zero-energy” also gives it an advantage over other hotel offerings at Changi Airport, and it could serve as a success story for the rest of the hospitality sector here, Mr Cassim said.
“There is a strong expectation of increased passenger traffic into and through Changi Airport,” he added. “The addition of 255 hotel rooms is a strong incentive for transit passengers to be converted into visitors to Singapore, even if it is just for a night’s stay.”
Editor’s note: This story has been edited for accuracy.
