CHANGI AIRPORT TERMINAL 3

Terminal 3, the airport's fourth passenger terminal, became operational on 9 January 2008,[35] increasing the airport's annual passenger capacity by 22 million. The test flight out of Terminal 3 was a Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to Perth. The flight departed T3 at 5:30 pm local time, landing in Perth International Airport at approximately 11:30 pm.[citation needed] The terminal has 28 aerobridge gates, with eight capable of handling the Airbus A380. While the other two terminals use separate waiting areas for different gates, Terminal 3 has common waiting areas for some of the gates.

Designed by CPG Corporation,[36] with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designing the roof feature[37] and interior design by Woodhead,[38][39] Terminal 3 departs from the largely utilitarian architecture in the first two terminals. Like other new airports in the region, it has a structure mainly made of glass, with big transparent spaces inside the terminal. However, unlike these newer airports, it incorporates "natural" features and "warm" tone extensively to balance the sterile feel of glass and steel. For example, the column is given a wood-like cladding and the floor of the terminal is mostly cream/ beige colour. The roof has been designed to allow natural light to enter the building, with 919 skylights. A 5 m (16 ft)-high "Green Wall" with hanging creepers and waterfall was incorporated to enhance the tropical feel. The Green Wall, designed by Singapore-based Landscape Design firm Tierra Design, also helps to regulate the internal temperature of the terminal with the occasional misting. The interior architecture of Terminal 3 recently won the Honour Award from ASLA.[40]

Singapore Airlines operated the first flights into Terminal 3 on 9 January 2008, with flight SQ001 from San Francisco via Hong Kong arriving at 1150 hours to a welcome ceremony by Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lim Siang Keat Raymond and the chairman of CAG, Liew Mun Leong. The first departure flight, SQ318, took off at 1250 hours bound for London-Heathrow.[citation needed] Since then, its regional and long-haul flights bound for Africa, Americas, Europe, Middle East, North Asia, India and South West Pacific will depart from T3 while all other destinations depart from T2, becoming the first and only airline to operate from multiple terminals in Changi Airport.

China Eastern Airlines, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and United Airlines also moved operations to the terminal on 1 January 2008,[41][42] while Kingfisher Airlines launched services to Singapore using T3 in 2009. Garuda Indonesia, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines have also moved operations to T3 in 2011.[43] In 2013, Asiana Airlines and Lion Air have also moved operations to T3.[44] Ethiopian Airlines and Spring Airlines used to operate from Terminal 3. On 2 July 2015, China Airlines and EVA Air shifted its operations to T3.

United Airlines moved its operations from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 on 24 May 2016, followed by Vietnam Airlines to Terminal 4 on 7 November 2017 and Qatar Airways to Terminal 1 on 28 October 2018. Vistara commenced regular service to Singapore using Terminal 3 on 6 August 2019 due to its partnership with Singapore Airlines.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore Airlines consolidated all of its flights to Terminal 3 from 1 May 2020 for a period of 18 months.[45]