Singapore’s Changi airport is no stranger to being ranked amongst the best airports in the world. It has gained popularity because of its on-site butterfly dome, four-story slide and cactus garden.
The vast popularity of the airport has resulted in repercussions by the Singapore Police Force who released a warning for residents not to misuse their boarding passes.
In fact, misusing boarding passes is an offense in Singapore because transit areas are considered to be “protected places.”
If someone is caught accessing the gate-side areas of the airport without the intention of flying, they can be prosecuted and fined up to $14,300 or serve up to two years in prison under Singapore’s Infrastructure Protection Act.
In the first eight months of 2019 alone, there have been thirty-three arrests.
A 27-year-old man was recently arrested because he purchased a ticket with no intention of flying — he wanted to walk his wife to the gate.
Singapore police released a Facebook post saying, “passengers who enter the transit area with a boarding pass should only be there for the purpose of traveling to their next destination.”
You wouldn’t normally think of spending time in an airport for leisure but Singapore’s airport is unlike most.
Changi’s Jewel terminal opened in April and has made bucket-lists worldwide because of its waterfall, the largest indoor waterfall in the world, which is 131 feet long. The airport also has one of Asia’s largest indoor gardens containing 3,000 trees and 60,000 shrubs.
According to CNN, “passengers have been known to book refundable tickets which they cancel before the flight takes off, having enjoyed the airport.”
