Early baggage facility at Changi Airport’s T2 upgraded, now fully automated

Next to Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 sits a facility the size of four Olympic-size swimming pools, where an average of 4,200 bags shuttle through a system of conveyor belts stretching over 1.2km every day. Automated cranes sort the bags, which were checked in early, into storage slots by height and weight. When the flight that the bags are bound for is ready for loading three hours before departure, the crane automatically retrieves them and sends them on their way. More travellers are checking in bags early – more than three hours before their flight departs, said airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG). More than 33,000 people used the early check-in lounge at Jewel Changi Airport in October, up from about 6,000 in January. Passengers can check in at the Jewel lounge as early as 24 hours before their flight, depending on the airline. Regular airline counters open for check-in about two to three hours before a flight. Sixteen airlines currently offer early check-in at Jewel, up from 10 airlines in January. From October 2022 to September 2023, when T2 was partially opened, these early bags had to be moved and removed manually by workers at the terminal’s early baggage facility.<br/>