Changi Airport resumed normal operations at 3am on Wednesday (May 17) after a fire at Terminal 2 disrupted flights and operations.
Indigo Air flight 6E54 to Chennai left from T2 at 5.40am, the airport said in an update on Facebook.
It apologised for the inconvenience caused and thanked its passengers for their patience.
Mr Avneesh Mehta, 21, was among passengers who checked in for IndiGo flight 6E54 at about 4am. The flight, which departed Singapore for Chennai at 5.40am, was the first flight departing from T2 since operations resumed.
The Indian national, who had been in Singapore for a five-day holiday, said: “I’m glad that everything is now in order. I didn’t even know there was a fire that caused such a huge impact.”
Some shops in T2 were affected by the fire. Indian fast food restaurant Chutney Mary and restaurant Nando’s on level 3 appeared to have been hit by a blackout caused by the fire.
Chutney Mary’s manager Mohan Hase, 33, said the sprinklers on the fifth floor were activated and water leaked through the false ceiling into the 24-hour restaurant.
There was also a power outage. So even though staff were allowed back into the restaurant at 10.30pm last night, the restaurant has not re-opened.
The 24-hour Starbucks cafe at T2, which closed at 4pm on Tuesday, re-opened at 3am.
The cafe staff were back into the shop around midnight.
Starbucks barista Siti Umairah, 21, said her colleagues were unable to complete their duties due to the sudden closure, so their team cleaned the equipment and completed the sales report before re-opening the outlet.
“It smelled quite smoky when I entered the shop around midnight, but it’s okay now” she said.
Mr Wilfred Tan, 30, who works at the Times bookstore said nothing was amiss at the store, which closed early on Tuesday. The store opened at 6am, its usual opening time.
“The airport conducts fire drills quite often so we know what to do in the event of an emergency,” said Mr Tan, who has worked for Times for four years.
Passenger Carol Pantoja, 41, a sales manager at a pharmaceutical firm, could not even tell there had been a fire when she landed in the wee hours of the morning at about 5.40am.
“When I arrived here I couldn’t tell that there was a fire. I walked around for 20 minutes and didn’t smell anything,” she said.
The fire on Tuesday broke out in a room holding air-conditioning equipment at the terminal, which triggered a fire alarm at 5.40pm.
Terminal 2 was evacuated and closed, while all flights were moved to Terminal 3.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force gave the all-clear for T2 at 10pm on Tuesday. Flight operations then progressively resumed.
A total of about 40 flights were affected, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said. Six people required medical assistance.
Two people in the terminal were sent to hospital for observation after approaching Changi staff for medical assistance, and another four were brought to the Terminal 3 clinic, CAG said.
Changi Airport said it will work with authorities to investigate the incident.
Passengers departing or arriving on Wednesday are advised to check the Changi Airport website, app or social media channels for the latest information, it added.
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/
