SINGAPORE, June 14 — Low-cost carrier AirAsia is looking forward to the reopening of Terminal 4 (T4) of Changi Airport in September 2022.

"Anytime sooner is great for us,” AirAsia Malaysia chief executive officer Riad Asmat told Bernama on the sidelines of the Aviation Festival Asia 2022 here today.

Riad, who was one of the panellists speaking on a topic titled "Flying with confidence — what next for airlines in Asia?”, said for now, the airline is accommodated utilising T1 side.

"It is fine but ideally we want to go back to pre-Covid services. T4 is the most ideal for our operations.

"We were operating very much from there with the size and volume that was given to us at that point. It accommodated our efficiency as well. Hoping it can be done as soon as possible,” he said.

On whether AirAsia is already at pre-Covid-19 frequencies at T1, Riad said: "Not yet (although) we have a flight obviously to go back to our previous scheduling frequencies.

"We are waiting for the approvals for that from the authority here. Other than that we are definitely wanting to fly more to Singapore. We have the capabilities and we want to do it as soon as possible.” Bernama understands that Airasia is currently flying to 11 cities in Asean from Singapore compared to 16 cities before the international border closure due to Covid-19.

In its announcement dated June 10 on the reopening of T4, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said the move will add to Changi Airport’s operating capacity and enable the airport to meet the full recovery of pre-Covid-19 passenger traffic in the Northern Winter Season beginning October 30.

Since the relaxation of travel protocols on April 1 this year, CAG said passenger traffic at Changi Airport has recovered strongly.

For the first week of June 2022, CAG said passenger traffic at Changi Airport reached 48 per cent of pre-Covid-19 level compared to the first seven days of June 2019.

In response to this pickup in air travel, airlines have requested to launch more flights for the season, CAG said.

CAG said it will first reopen T4 in September 2022 to handle both departure and arrival flights.

Engagement with airlines, airport partners, and potential tenants has begun to prepare for this, it said.

"It is expected that airlines previously operating at T4 will return to the terminal upon its reopening. CAG will work with the airlines on the relocation details,” it said. — Bernama