$120 taxi fare: Singapore Airshow visitors left frustrated with crawling traffic, long waits

Waiting almost three hours for a taxi ride from the Singapore Airshow to her hotel was not something that senior corporate executive Inga Duglas expected after attending the first day of the event on Feb 20.

When she eventually got into a taxi, her fare from Changi Exhibition Centre, where the air show is taking place till Feb 25, to central Singapore at 7.30pm came to $120, said Ms Duglas, expressing surprise that her ride was “so expensive”.

“I was hungry, thirsty and exhausted,” the 38-year-old told The Straits Times on the evening of Feb 21.

The 2024 edition of the biennial aerospace and defence exhibition has been drawing complaints about heavy traffic in and out of the showground, with some visitors telling ST that traffic arrangements were poorly organised.

The first four days of the air show, from Feb 20 to 23, are for trade attendees. The air show is open to the public on the last two days, on Feb 24 and 25.

Ms Duglas was among 23 trade visitors and exhibitors interviewed by ST about their experience getting into and out of the showground.

Some said they had to endure several kilometres of crawling traffic into the exhibition centre due to reduced access to Aviation Park Road and Tanah Merah Coast Road, and were unable to secure private-hire car and taxi rides to and from Changi Exhibition Centre.

Others spoke of the sky-high fares for these rides, and long queues for the air show shuttle, which plies between Singapore Expo and the exhibition centre.

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Visitors have to pay a location surcharge of $15, on top of the metered fare, for taxi services leaving Changi Exhibition Centre until Feb 25.

Commercial executive Stanley Raj, 45, said it was the “worst transportation experience” he has encountered, when compared with other air shows he has visited, including the Paris Air Show in June 2023 and the Dubai Airshow in November 2023.

To exit the showground on Feb 21 at around 5pm, Mr Raj waited more than 35 minutes for his private-hire car ride.

That morning, his ride to the exhibition centre was stuck in a 45-minute jam because of lane closures and security checkpoints.

Ms Jayne Low, who is part of an exhibitor’s team that drove to the air show, said she was caught in traffic for about 20 minutes at around 9am on Feb 21.

This was because officers slowed traffic down significantly by checking the identities of all passengers in each vehicle with a parking label, said the managing director in her 40s.

Ms Low, who has attended several editions of the Singapore Airshow, added: “It is the same thing for every edition... If they can manage (vehicular) traffic for Coldplay fans, they can surely do this for the air show.”

ST reporters heading to the show experienced several instances of private-hire car drivers cancelling their rides to the exhibition centre on Feb 21 and 22.

Part-time private-hire car driver George Liow, 37, said most drivers would not travel to the venue for a single fare, as they would need to navigate the jam and detours.

He added: “Who in their right mind would come in all the way to the venue to pick someone up for a small sum of money?”

Traffic appeared to have improved on Feb 22, with the stream of vehicles heading into the exhibition grounds moving faster than in previous days.

Mr Arie Cahya, a 29-year-old procurement executive who took a taxi there, said the traffic was smoother on Feb 22 than the day before, when he was stuck in a gridlock at 9am for half an hour.

In response to ST’s queries, Mr Leck Chet Lam, managing director of Experia Events, which organised the air show, said the firm is aware of the longer lines and waiting time for transport at the 2024 show. He attributed this to the higher attendance than in previous editions.

He said the company has rolled out new measures based on usage patterns at different times of the day, and used all available resources to ease traffic.

For instance, Mr Leck said it opened more lanes by diverting traffic into VIP lanes when they were not used, resulting in smoother traffic on Feb 22.

He added that Experia anticipates fewer cars and greater demand for shuttle buses at the weekend, and will take steps such as having buses with larger capacity run more frequently.

“We thank everyone for their patience,” he said.

Some 50,000 trade visitors are expected to attend the first four days of the event, and more than 60,000 public visitors are set to throng the Changi showground over the Feb 24 and 25 weekend.

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