A new path connecting Changi Airport and East Coast Park is now open, allowing users to cycle or jog to the airport for the first time.
A key attraction along this 3.5km route is a permanent outdoor display of more than 20 dinosaur models, from a towering Tyrannosaurus rex to a trio of Velociraptors.
New facilities are also available at pit stops, such as bicycle rental services, pay-per-use showers, a washing bay and a new cafe.
Changi Airport Group (CAG) said yesterday that the new link will offer an alternative route to get to the airport and a new recreational option for Singaporeans.
With the opening of the Changi Airport connector, the airport is now connected to the larger Park Connector Network in the east, which links to places such as Changi Beach Park and Bedok Reservoir.
The new route runs parallel to Airport Boulevard Road. No such route for pedestrians to the airport existed previously.
The project took about three years from conceptualisation to completion, and was done with the support of the National Parks Board and the Singapore Tourism Board.
Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung officiated at the opening of the connector yesterday at the start of the Changi Jurassic Mile, after he had cycled from Bedok.
In a Facebook post yesterday, he described the connector as a "labour of love" by the Changi Airport team. "The Airport is down, but the spirit soars!" he wrote.
Entry to the 1km stretch with the dinosaur exhibits is free.
But from Fridays to Sundays, visitors must make a booking before being allowed to enter from 9am to midnight due to safe distancing requirements.
Bicycles can be rented for $8 an hour at a pit stop near Terminal 2. They can be returned to GoCycling outlets such as the ones at East Coast Park, Changi Beach Park and Punggol Park.
The new cafe at the Hub & Spoke pit stop offers local and Western fare, with the option of al fresco dining. It is open from 7.30am to 9.30pm daily.
Mr Jayson Goh, CAG's managing director of airport operations management, said connecting Changi Airport with East Coast Park and the rest of Singapore's Park Connector Network was for the benefit of the airport community, locals and tourists.
"The new experiential elements injected along the Changi Jurassic Mile will offer all who visit a sense of adventure and surprise. With the Changi Airport connector, we hope to give visitors a different experience of the airport," he said.
Mr Jaryl Sim, owner of the Hub & Spoke Cafe which opened on Aug 12, said that initially, he was not keen on the location but was sold after learning of the plans to develop the area. Currently, about half of his customers are airport staff, he said.
"With the opening of the connector and as more airport operations resume, we hope there will be an uptick of customers in the future, including tourists," said Mr Sim.
Events management consultant Chan Kok Meng, 43, was at the Jurassic Mile yesterday with his wife and two sons, aged seven and five.
Asked if he would visit again, he quipped: "We have no choice - our younger boy wants us to bring him here again as he wants to sketch the dinosaurs."
