Singapore Changi ensures its future as leading ASEAN hub with third runway and fifth terminal

Singapore is finally moving forward on plans to open a third runway as part of a new project aimed at making sure Changi Airport remains a leading hub for Southeast Asia. Changi over the last decade has seen a huge rise over aircraft movements driven by the rapid expansion of Singapore's budget carrier sector. But this has led to congestion of the two existing runways at peak hours.

The third runway and subsequently a fifth terminal will be on Changi's undeveloped east side, which is currently only used by the military. The fifth terminal will be massive and could potentially double the airport's capacity to approximately 170 million passengers per annum.

Changi handled 51 million passengers in 2012; it is currently able to handle 66 million passengers and is in the process of adding capacity within the current four-terminal site to handle 85 million passengers. But it is runway rather than terminal capacity which is by far the more pressing issue for Singapore. The third runway is not expected to open to commercial use until 2020, leaving Changi a challenging situation, as it is already turning away some airlines seeking slots for new services.