Changi Airport Terminal 3, built at a cost of S$1.75 billion (US$1.15 billion; €850 million), will boost the airport's annual capacity by 22 million to 70 million passengers a year, Lim said.

The new terminal "will help us strengthen and consolidate our regional hub position, and at the same time, enhance customer experience," Lim said after touring the terminal.

One of the features of the seven-story terminal is a roof with over 900 skylights and reflector panels that automatically allow an optimum amount of natural light into the building while keeping out the tropical heat.

The new Changi terminal will have 28 aerobridge gates - eight of which are designed to handle a new generation of large, double-decker passenger jets like the Airbus A380, the airport's operator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. is the first customer to receive the superjumbo. Its delivery is scheduled for October.

The terminal will undergo trial flights and airport systems tests over the next eight months, CAAS said.

As a regional air transportation hub, Changi Airport faces competition from its neighbors such as Thailand, which recently opened its new US$3.8 billion (€2.9 billion) Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. But the Thai airport has been plagued by a host of problems, including cracks in taxiways, a shortage of toilets, dozens of design flaws and a long list of corruption allegations.

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