There are passengers who sleep overnight in the airport due to flight delays, some even taking a week or two, and others still for months.
Then there’s this 50-year-old Singaporean auntie, who’s 10 years short of shattering the world record with a whopping eight-year stay.
Preferring to remain unidentified, she explains that she was badly affected by the 2008 financial crisis with cash flow issues, and in desperation, she rented out her three-room flat in Tampines while she moved out to the airport.
What was initially intended to be a short stay turned into an eight-year stopover, with a trolley full of clothes and other daily necessities.
According to Lianhe Wanbao, she eats at the food court and finds living in there quite convenient as there is a supermarket, showers, air-conditioning and free Wi-Fi.
Currently, she’s raking in just $1,000 from rental and, while not in any financial difficulty, hopes to have a proper roof over her head, saying that she “intend(s) to sell the flat and apply for a smaller two-room unit, to make life easier”.
Changi Airport Group has stated that its staff approaches people who stay overnight in the airport, assisting them if possible by contacting agencies like the Ministry of Social and Family Department or Family Service Centres.
Cases of airports being made the home away from home has been a common sight in recent times, with over 10 Singaporeans being “regular guests” in the world’s best airport. Back in 2015, a trio lived in Changi Airport for approximately seven months — after a falling out with their parents — before being ordered to leave by security. Last year, a Malaysian man managed to spend 18 days undetected there, forging boarding passes to enter luxury departure lounges.
The longest known case of living in the airport was of a man named Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in Terminal One of Charles de Gaulle Airport in France for an incredulous 18 years — a feat that inspired the Tom Hanks flick The Terminal.
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