This airport has a slide that takes you to your boarding gate

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Have you ever had fun at an airport?

Unless you’re an aviation geek like me, the journey from check-in to security to the gate can be a slog. Travelers lucky enough to use Singapore’s Changi Airport, however, are discovering the trek can actually be — gasp — enjoyable.

Often rated one of the best airports in the world by various industry groups, Changi looks like an upscale mall instead of a utilitarian airline hub. In addition to a movies theater, tasteful art installations and dozens of restaurants, the airport attracts attention for its slides — for adults. (And kids, as long as they meet the height requirements.)

Changi Airport

A YouTube video of one slide, posted a few days ago, is going viral: It’s a first-person view of Changi’s Terminal 4 slide.

Taken by traveler Yusuf El Askary, the clip shows El Askary approaching a sign for a few gates. Passengers can choose to take the escalator down to their plane, or use the much-more-awesome slide.

El Askary zaps his boarding pass on a scanner ahead of the slide. Doors open with a tiny fanfare, and El Askary takes the plunge. We hear him let out a shaky “woo!” as he zooms toward the boarding area below.

So. Fun. Check it out:

This slide is pretty great, but it’s not even the only one at Changi Airport. There’s an even bigger, longer one in Terminal 3 that’s simply dubbed The Slide.

At four stories tall, it’s the tallest slide in Singapore. It’s open to the public, too — not just travelers. Riders just have to spend $10 within the terminal shops and restaurants to take advantage. Scan the receipt and you get 10 rides down the chute.

The Terminal 3 slide is the original Changi slide, opened in 2010.

Wow! The airport I use (Denver International) is trying really hard to make itself a cool place to hang, with ice skating in the winter, park activities in the summer, special outposts of local-favorite restaurants and jokey signs referencing conspiracy theories about the place.

I hate to say it, but they’ve got nothing on Changi!

Curiosity, Travel

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About the Author
Kathleen St. John
Kathleen St. John is a freelance journalist. She lives in Denver with her husband, two kids and a fiercely protective Chihuahua.

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