The future of Changi: Lim Ching Kiat on AI, pharma, and Terminal 5 plans

Singapore’s Changi Airport (SIN) welcomed close to 70 million passengers in 2025, not just recovering from the pandemic but surpassing every traffic record in its history. 

For Lim Ching Kiat, Executive Vice President of Air Hub and Cargo Development at Changi Airport Group (CAG), the milestone capped a record-breaking year that also saw 13 new city links added to the network.

But Lim, who has spent 16 years at the airport, is clear-eyed about what comes next. In an exclusive conversation with AeroTime on the grounds of Changi Airport, he outlined the calculated bets the airport is making ahead of Terminal 5’s opening in the mid-2030s: autonomous technology, pharmaceutical cold-chain infrastructure, and its geographic position at the crossroads of shifting global supply chains.

Driverless vehicles and the push for a multi-skilled workforce

Air travel demand across Asia-Pacific shows no signs of slowing, and Changi is preparing by investing heavily in automation. This is particularly critical on the airside, where an aging workforce and tightening labor supply present real constraints.

The airport recently deployed its first fleet of fully driverless vehicles to support airside operations, including autonomous baggage tractors. 

“While our traffic grows, the resources may not grow at the same pace,” Lim said. “So we have to drive efficiency and higher productivity.”

The strategy extends well beyond swapping human-driven vehicles for autonomous ones. As routine tasks are handed off to machines, Changi is actively redesigning airside roles, pushing workers toward higher-value responsibilities. 

“Our end goal is that we will have a multi-skilled workforce that is augmented by technology, automation, and artificial intelligence,” Lim said. That combination, he added, will be essential to maintaining service standards as the airport scales toward Terminal 5 capacity.

AI on the tarmac, biometrics at the gate

Behind the scenes, Changi is piloting an artificial intelligence system aimed at one of aviation’s perennial headaches: aircraft turnaround times. The system uses computer vision and real-time data to break the turnaround process into its various component activities and flags delays as they develop.

“Whenever one of these activities gets out of sync, we are able to predict the end result and work together with our ecosystem partners for service recovery,” Lim explained. The goal is tighter gate planning, better resource allocation, and improved on-time performance. For passengers, that translates to fewer delays.

On the passenger-facing side, Changi has already rolled out passport-free immigration clearance using biometrics. The longer-term vision is more ambitious: a single biometric token, essentially the passenger’s face, serving as a secure and seamless identifier from check-in to boarding.

A cold-chain hub for Southeast Asia’s pharma boom

Singapore is the only net exporter of pharmaceuticals in Southeast Asia, with many of the world’s top biopharma companies operating manufacturing or R&D facilities in the country. 

That positions Changi as a natural logistics node for temperature-sensitive shipments and the airport has invested accordingly.

The airport’s cargo zone includes more than 9,000 square meters of airside-facing temperature-controlled facilities with capacity to handle upward of 375,000 tons per year. Beyond the airside, the Airport Free Trade Zone houses close to 30,000 square meters of additional cold-chain space operated by logistics partners.

Certification matters in pharma, and Changi holds an edge there too. The airport community boasts one of the largest concentrations of IATA CEIV Pharma-certified handlers in Asia-Pacific, spanning every node along the value chain.

Lim also emphasized the collaborative dimension. Changi Airport is a founding member and board member of Pharma.Aero, an international alliance focused on best practices for pharmaceutical air transport. Locally, the airport runs Pharma@Changi, a community of IATA CEIV Pharma-certified cargo handlers working to strengthen Singapore’s capabilities in pharmaceutical logistics. 

“We hear their feedback on how we can improve ourselves,” Lim said.

Navigating tariffs and the ‘China+N’ shift

Changi’s two largest cargo markets are the United States and China, putting the airport at the center of 2025’s tariff turbulence. Even so, world trade volume expanded by 4.5% in the first nine months of the year, exceeding full-year forecasts by the World Trade Organisation. Changi handled 2 million tons of cargo for the year, one of its strongest performances on record.

Lim attributes part of that resilience to the broader restructuring of global supply chains. 

“Many producers and companies are trying to diversify their supply chain and not be over-relying on one single country,” he said. The so-called “China+N” strategy, in which companies diversify production across multiple countries, has funneled investment and logistics activity into Southeast Asia.

Strong semiconductor demand, fueled by AI infrastructure buildout, electric vehicles, and clean technology, has also buoyed the region. Southeast Asia now accounts for roughly 20% of global semiconductor chip exports, and the region is well-positioned to capture more of the value chain in the years ahead.

On the passenger side, China remained Changi’s largest traffic market, with movements growing about 12% year over year in 2025. The United States also ranked among the airport’s top markets.

Still, Lim said the airport is “not complacent.” The pace of policy change in 2025 made it difficult for the cargo community to keep up, and Changi is maintaining what he described as a nimble posture. “We are watching this space very carefully,” he added. 

From parking lot to destination: The Jewel effect

When asked about the proudest moments of his tenure, Lim pointed to Jewel Changi Airport, the landmark complex blending nature, retail, and attractions that transformed what was once an outdoor car park into a standalone destination.

“It has changed our business model,” he said. Travelers now adjust their flight timings and itineraries specifically to spend time at Jewel, a shift that Lim said carries special meaning for him and his team. The project also set a template for the kind of bold thinking Changi hopes to bring to Terminal 5.

Designing for 70 million different people

The 70 million passengers who pass through Changi each year are far from a uniform group, and Lim said this diversity is something he notices every time he walks the terminals.

“There are many different segments of travelers, and they have very different needs,” he said – from halal and vegetarian dining requirements to multi-generational family groups that need specialized handling. One area of growing focus is passengers with non-visible disabilities. Changi has introduced quiet rooms offering a calmer, lower-stimulation environment for travelers who need a break from the bustle of a busy airport.

“Our traffic is very diversified,” Lim said. “We have to watch out to make sure that the different needs of different traveler segments are catered for.” 

It’s a philosophy that extends beyond operational logistics into something closer to hospitality, and one that Changi clearly intends to carry forward as it builds for the next decade.

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