Singapore Changi Airport is one of the best airports in the world – and the No.1 in the eyes of many travellers.
It was ranked second in the ‘Oscars for Airports’ this year, won the accolade consecutively from 2013 to 2020 and came first in 2023.
The secret to its success? For starters, it employs people who work full-time to make it spectacular.
Here, MailOnline Travel reveals who some of them are, from the horticulturists who nurture 700,000 plants and 800 butterflies for the airport’s incredible gardens, to the general manager of ‘experience creation’. Her job? To create ‘wow moments’.
Read on as they lift the veil on running a world-beating hub.
Dorothy Lim, Senior Manager, Horticulture
Changi Airport houses mesmerising indoor greenery covering 24,000 sq m (258,333 sq ft) – equivalent to 19 Olympic-sized swimming pools – and outdoor greenery covering 290,000 sq m (3.1million sq ft), explains Dorothy Lim, one of the airport’s horticulturalists.
This volume of vegetation, she explains, would take two days for her team to water by hand. Luckily, they’re aided by automation.
Dorothy Lim helps to nurture greenery at Changi Airport that covers over 300,000 sq m
Dorothy explains that passengers touch Changi’s plants out of curiosity – ‘to see if they’re real’. Above is Terminal 4
She explains: ‘About 90 per cent of our indoor landscape areas are irrigated by automated irrigation systems, while most of our outdoor greenery relies on natural rainfall.
‘Being situated in the tropics, Singapore gets quite a lot of rainfall throughout the year.’
Do airport users ever damage the plants?
Dorothy says: ‘Yes, it is common for our plants to get damaged by airport users. Some passengers touch the plants out of curiosity, because they want to verify that the plants or flowers are real.’
How does she decide what goes where?
She reveals: ‘I will choose plants that fit the theme of the landscape and growing conditions. For example, at Sunflower Garden at Terminal 2, I prefer plants with yellow and orange tones, and they must be able to take full sun conditions, as it is blazing hot in Singapore on most days.
‘On the other hand, I will put nectar plants in Butterfly Garden – at Terminal 3 – as they can become food for the butterflies there. At the outdoor areas, I will usually avoid trees or plants that bear fruits as they attract wildlife, which may in turn jeopardise aviation safety.’
Khaja Nazimuddeen, General Manager, Horticulture
Above is Changi horticulturalist Khaja Nazimuddeen, who reveals that at any one time there are around 800 butterflies fluttering around Changi
Khaja explains that the horticulture team tends to the plants that line the airport’s roadways
Khaja was part of the team that created Changi’s breathtaking nature-themed ‘Jewel’ entertainment and retail complex.
He reveals: ‘Working on the conceptualisation of the horticulture displays of Jewel Changi Airport in the five years leading up to the opening of the complex – from 2014 to 2019 – was truly challenging yet fulfilling and memorable. To see Jewel become an icon of Changi Airport and Singapore was really heartwarming.
‘The Jewel project delivered a garden of 20,000 square metres with some 2,000 trees and palms and close to 100,000 shrubs in an indoor setting, mainly located at the Shiseido Forest Valley around the Jewel Rain Vortex.’
Any surprising aspects to his role?
Khaja says: ‘Our horticulture team also takes care of the plants along Airport Boulevard, leading to or from our terminals. This spans 15 hectares of roadways. The roads leading from the airport represent the first impressions and last snapshots of Singapore to travellers. It is hence very important that the greenery is well-maintained to uphold our reputation as a Garden City.’
The Jewel space, which Khaja describes as an ‘icon’ of Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport was ranked second in the ‘Oscars for Airports’ this year
Pictured above is a ‘dreamscape’ area in Changi’s Terminal 2
We hear there are butterflies…
Khaja says: ‘We have, at any one time, about 800 butterflies across 25 species and most of them are from the tropical region. They are primarily categorised into two types of butterflies – nectar-feeding and fruit-feeding. While the former can obtain nectar from the many flowers in the Butterfly Garden, our team puts out trays of fruits such as pineapples for the fruit-feeding butterflies.’
Where do they come from?
Khaja explains: ‘Every Wednesday, we receive a shipment of 600 pupae of different species from a breeder in Malaysia. The most common species are Lacewing, Common Rose, Blue Pansy, and Common Birdwing. Butterflies have a typical lifespan of 10 to 14 days.’
Delfine Ong, General Manager, Experience Creation
On the right is Delfine Ong, who is employed to create ‘wow’ moments at Changi
The Chandelier in Terminal 4, a 16- (52-foot) metre-tall play structure with rope courses for passengers to enjoy before their flights. Delfine describes this as a ‘standout project’
Delfine has been with the Changi Airport Group for 10 years, and with the Experience Creation team since day one.
Her role? To create ‘wow moments’.
She explains: ‘We like to think we have the most exciting job at the airport!
‘Our team is responsible for creating those unforgettable “wow” moments that make passengers’ journeys enjoyable and memorable. We come up with innovative and captivating ideas to enhance the travel experience.
‘Some of our standout projects include the newly launched Wonderfall, a 14- (45-foot) metre-high LED screen displaying a life-like waterfall, and the Chandelier in Terminal 4, a 16- (52-foot) metre-tall play structure with rope courses for passengers to enjoy before their flights.’
What’s the most challenging part of the job?
Delfine reveals that the project closest to her heart is the go-kart track created in Terminal 4 during the Covid pandemic
She reveals: ‘The biggest challenge of my job is figuring out what the next “big thing” will be.
‘A significant part of my role involves thinking outside the box and developing innovative ideas that will wow our passengers, all while ensuring they fit within the airport context.
‘We strive to create unique experiences that people wouldn’t typically expect to find in an airport. Balancing this creativity with practicality – keeping everything safe, relevant, and not disrupting airport operations – is always a delicate and exciting challenge.’
Which project is closest to her heart?
Wong Meng Kwan, Director of Design Management. He tells MailOnline Travel that the aim is to create ‘calming, stress-free, and pleasantly surprising experiences’
She remarks: ‘The project closest to my heart is when we transformed Terminal 4 into a go-kart track. This happened during the Covid-19 pandemic when Terminal 4 was shut down, and the airport was a somber place due to travel restrictions. We managed to convert Terminal 4 into a space where Singaporeans could find some respite, excitement, and happiness, almost like taking a short holiday when travel was not possible.
‘We turned Terminal 4 into a magical place, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use an airport terminal as a racing track.’
Wong Meng Kwan, Director, Design Management, adds: ‘Each project is seen as an opportunity for a unique design intervention, without following a rigid formula or design manual. Our guiding principles focus on providing a calming, stress-free, and pleasantly surprising experience.’
The goal is to ‘find that sweet spot between aesthetics, function, ease of maintenance, cost, implementation time and quality control’.
For more on Singapore Changi Airport visit www.changiairport.com.
