Asia is ready to see a travel boom, and the countries in the region are preparing to exploit this increase in demand.
The Singapore Changi airport began on Wednesday at its fifth terminal, which is expected to be operational in the mid -2030s.
The new terminal, which is located on a land plot of 1,080 large hectares, will almost double the size of the existing area of the Changi airport.
This will allow the airport to handle 140 million passengers per year from its current capacity or 90 million passengers. Changi, who recently received Skytrax’s “Best Airport” in 2025 for the 13th time, welcomed 67.7 million passengers in 2024.
Airports that can handle more than 100 million passengers annually are classified as Mega Airports, and three of the existing 10 are in Asia, according to the Airport Industry Body Airport Council International. These are in Beijing, Tokyo and Shanghai.
ACI projects that air trips will grow almost 7% in the next 25 years. To deal with demand, airports in the regions of Asia-Pacific and Middle East are ready to undergo extensive development, with combined investments of $ 240 billion to improve existing facilities and build new airports between 2025 and 2035.
Speaking in the innovative event, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the decision to build terminal 5 was due to the fact that the long-term air trip is in an ascending trajectory, and most of the growth will take place here in the Asia-Pacific region. “
Wong also said that with terminal 5, Changi will be aimed at connecting with 200 cities, above the current 170 bonds of the city he has now.
“[Changi] He has connected our little island nation with the world and has taken the world to Singapore. And this connectivity has driven our growth as an air center, promoting industries such as tourism, aerospace and logistics, “said Wong, noting that the aviation ecosystem now contributes to 5% of Singapore’s GDP.
Expansion
The competition in the region also intensifies, Wong said. For example, airports in Asia are significantly investing in the modernization of their infrastructure and adjacent facilities such as entertainment and retail spaces.
The Hong Kong International Airport commissioned a third track in November and is expanding terminal 2 of the airport. The objective of the airport, he said, is to serve 120 million passengers and handle 10 million tons of charge annually since 2035.
Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport opened a third track in September 2024, which increased the airport capacity to drive flights, after the completion of a new satellite terminal one previous year.
The Thailand airport operator also revealed a new “ESA” expansion plan to increase the capacity of the airport by 2027.
In South Korea, the Incheon Incheon Airport of Seoul completed its “expansion of phase 4” in December, which allows it to handle an annual passenger capacity of up to 106 million of 77 million, and made it the third largest airport in the world.
Thomas Pellegrin, leader of the transport sector, hospitality and services of Southeast Asia de Deloitte, told CNBC that Asia has become the “Barycenter” of the growth of air trips after the Covid-19 pandemic.
This growth in air trips is due to the expansion of the middle class, whose propensity to fly increases faster than income growth, as well as the high urbanization rate in the region, which connects people with air transport infrastructure, he said.
“The regional increase in passenger demand is now forecast by 7.9% in the short term and 5.1% in the long term, which is the highest worldwide and well above mature markets,” Pellegrin added.
This means that Asian airports will need to accommodate approximately double passengers and airplanes by 2043, creating tremendous pressure on the existing infrastructure, he said.
Tourism boom for Singapore
Terminal 5 will also feed the Singapore Plan to increase tourism income in the city-state of a record rupture of $ 29.8 billion in 2024 to $ 47 billion, $ 50 billion in the next 15 years.
Its strategy “Tourism 2040” focuses on increasing the demand of two different groups: business travelers and the stop, Grace Fu, the Minister of Sustainability and the environment of Singapore, said in April.
In particular, officials aim to triple the tourist income of business travelers attending meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, said Fu.
According to the CEO of the Tourism Board of Singapore, Melissa Ow, the transit and transmission passengers currently represent a third of the general traffic of the Changi airport.
Terminal 5, as well as the broader development of Changi East, which also includes a third track and an industrial zone, will allow Singapore to retain and increase its market share such as an air center, increase connectivity and solidify Changi’s position as the best airport.
“All these effects are combined to provide Singapore on ‘Power Soft Power’ International.”
