Changi is actually Singapore’s fourth civil airport and follows on from Kallang, which welcomed Cathay Pacific’s maiden flight in 1946; and Paya Lebar, which opened in 1955 with one terminal and a single runway. That was fine for the 300,000 passengers in its first year of operations, but by 1975 with four million passengers passing through, it was running at maximum capacity.

The options were to expand with a new runway and terminal, or look for a new site. In 1975, the Singapore government opted for the latter. A year later, the Hong Kong authorities identified a small island called Chek Lap Kok as a possible home for its new airport.

In Singapore, eyes turned to the coastal military air base at Changi, 17 kilometres north of the Marina Bay complex. Land reclamation would offer limitless future expansion and the option of routing air traffic over the water to minimise noise.

The new Changi Airport opened at the end of 1981 with one runway, and work commenced immediately on a second. The philosophy has always been to grow ahead of the capacity curve to avoid a repeat of the gridlocked 1970s. It has been ahead of the curve, too, in terms of developments in aviation, opening Asia’s first budget carrier terminal, a VIP terminal, plus infrastructure works for the giant Airbus A380 – Singapore Airlines was the launch customer in 2007.

Last year, Changi handled nearly 59 million passengers – 11 million fewer than Hong Kong International Airport.