A third terminal opened at Singapore Changi Airport on 9th January 2008.

Operations at the S$1.75 billion ($1.2 billion) Terminal 3 began with the arrival, at noon, of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747.

The new terminal, the size of 63 football fields, has been built to allow Changi to increase the number of passengers by 50% to 66 million per year.

It will be capable of handling 22 million passengers per year, and has 28 airbridges - eight of which are capable of handling the Airbus 380, which began commerical operations with Singapore Airlines in late 2007.

Terminal 3 also features a major retail development incorporating over 140 retail and food outlets, and is linked to a 350-room five-star hotel.

Changi began operations in 1981, with Terminal 2 opening in 1990. Since then the airport has grown to become Asia's fifth-busiest air travel hub, with over 4,300 weekly flights serving 180 cities worldwide.

Terminal Designed to Build on Asian Air Traffic Growth

Speaking at the terminal's opening ceremony, Singapore Transport Minister Raymond Lim said that Terminal 3 aimed to build on the high demand for air travel in Asia, and to anticipate the equally high growth expected over the coming years.

He said: "with this new terminal, we are poised to meet the demands of the growing tourist and business traffic in and out of Singapore".

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects air passenger traffic in Asia to grow by almost 6% in the next three years, generating over 300 million extra passengers by 2011.

In addition to the new terminal, a S$240 million project has also been undertaken to modernise the airport's Terminal 2.

Singapore "Facing Rising Competition"

Industry analysts said the opening of Terminal 3 at Changi is an attempt to bolster Singapore's position against the rising posed by major airport development in the rest of Asia and the Middle East.

"Singapore faces rising competition in the North with Hong Kong, and to the West with Dubai,'' said Derek Sadubin, chief operating officer of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, an industry consultancy.

A new, second terminal was opened in June 2007 at Hong Kong International Airport. In neighbouring China, Beijing Capital International Airport recently opened a third runway and a third terminal is about to open there allowing it to handle 60 million passengers.

In 2006, a new $4.7 billion airport was opened in Bangkok, Thailand - and Airports of Thailand Pcl, who operate Bangkok, said last year it is already looking expand the airport.

Meanwhile, over in the Middle East no fewer than 11 new airports are set to open in the coming years - including the massive Al-Maktoum International Airport in Dubai.

Commenting on the opening of Terminal 3, Albert Tjoeng of the IATA said: "Airports in Asia need to continue planning and investing in additional capacity in order to keep pace".

Source - Airport International's Aviation Correspondent

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