Singapore Airport to End Final Boarding Call Announcements

Singapore's Changi is widely considered one of the world's busiest, most efficient and most beautiful airports. Soon, it will be able to add one of the world's most quiet to to its already impressive resume.

On December 26, we learned that SIN would move to stop making final boarding announcements as well as paging individual passengers over the airport's loudspeaker. The Changi Airport Group says that the changes will make the airport less noisy and thus more enjoyable for passengers. It will also shift more responsibility to travelers, as they'll have to be more vigilant about checking important flight information, such as departure time and gate assignment.

In addition, the airport hopes that when it does make important announcements — such as when a passenger has left behind a personal item at security checkpoints — passengers will be more inclined to actually listen to the message instead of brushing it off as just another boarding announcement. Per The Jakarta Post, there's currently an announcement made in each of SIN's terminals approximately every five minutes.

This news has clearly resonated with TPG Lounge members, with most applauding the change, and some pointing out that many other airports already have moved away from making so many announcements over the loudspeaker:

Others pointed out that it's often difficult or even impossible to hear the announcements anyway, so this change won't change much in reality:

However, some members expressed disappointment in this change, pointing out that it could cause delays on flights where most passengers have boarded, but one or two passengers need to still be tracked down:

Finally, some members just feel nostalgia for the airport announcements; they say that they add to the overall experience at the airport and that hearing about all the flights departing for far-flung destinations is part of what makes traveling so exhilarating:

Regardless of our opinion on the elimination of these announcements, the trend is likely going to spread to more airports, as airline mobile apps are making it easier than ever to get up-to-the-minute information about gate changes, delays, cancellations and more. As technology continues to evolve and improve, the terminal announcements will continue to become less and less relevant.