Singapore is widely viewed as one of the best airports in the world. It certainly is my favorite to connect in, because of the ease of getting from one terminal to another–in fact, I prefer walking between them, rather than taking the SkyTrain. In fact, Skytrax does annual world airport report, which Singapore was awarded the best airport in the world, for the third year in a row.

Logically, any airport that is widely viewed as the world’s best, would want to continue to grow, right? Well, recently, Air Transport World reported that Singapore’s Changi Airport has signed up five new airlines for Terminal 4, which it expects to open in 2017. The new terminal will add about 9 million passengers a year worth of capacity. The airlines, if you’re curious, are:

AirAsia subsidies– AirAsia Berhad (Malaysia), Indonesia AirAsia, and Thai AirAsia, as well as flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, and maybe Korean Air. (Source: Air Transport World)

But, more capacity is a good thing, right? How could this possible knock Singapore’s Changi off of it’s pedestal? The devil is in the details, I would argue. Referencing the Air Transport World article, a little tidbit is buried in it. Specifically, they cite:

The lack of direct SkyTrain access to the other Changi terminals has seen local low-cost carriers Scoot and Tigerair hold back on support for the new facility. Transit passengers will need to take buses from T4 to other departure points. (Source: Air Transport World)

If you ask me, that’s a pretty big deal. For me personally, one of the reasons I find Singapore so easy to transit, is because at no time do I need to board a bus. They don’t do remote gates and they have 3 contiguous terminals. Quite frankly, without direct–walking–or SkyTrain access, it seems to me like Terminal 4 is a step backward.

What do you think? Will this change a decision to connect in Singapore vs. other Southeast Asian hubs like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur?

H/T View from the Wing