Singapore Changi Airport began operations on 1 July 1981 with a single terminal and one runway, replacing the older Paya Lebar Airport. Five months later, on 29 December 1981, it was officially opened. Built in just six years on reclaimed land at the eastern tip of the island, the airport matched Tokyo's Narita as the largest in Asia at the time of opening.

Situated roughly 24 kilometers from Singapore's downtown core, Changi is the primary international gateway for Southeast Asia and a critical transfer node on routes connecting Europe, the Middle East, Australasia, and East Asia. More than 100 airlines operate from the airport, serving over 170 cities worldwide. It is the home base of Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and Singapore Airlines Cargo. Singapore Airlines operates the world's longest scheduled nonstop flight from here, to New York's JFK, aboard a purpose-built Airbus A350-900ULR. In 2025, the airport recorded an all-time high of nearly 70 million passenger movements.

The airport's layout places its terminals in a horseshoe configuration flanked by 3 runways, with the Jewel complex, a steel-and-glass structure designed by Moshe Safdie and opened in 2019, at the center. Jewel houses retail, gardens, and the Rain Vortex, an indoor waterfall. Terminal 2 came online in 1990, extending the airport's original masterplan southward. Skytrax has named Changi the world's best airport 14 times, most recently in 2026. A fifth terminal, planned to open in the mid-2030s, will dramatically expand capacity once again.