Singapore's Budget Terminal, a new dedicated terminal for low cost carriers (LCCs), officially opened on Tuesday after it came into operation in March.

 

The budget terminal is linked to 16 cities with about 244 weekly scheduled flights, which is a 97 percent increase in the number of flights since the terminal was operational, Raymond Lim, Minister for Transport said at the opening ceremony.

 

And about 657,000 passengers have gone through the departure gate, he added.

 

The construction of this terminal commenced in the first quarter of last year, and was completed in less than a year. The terminal opened for operations in March this year, after a short three-month period of testing, commissioning and familiarization.

 

The terminal comprises two single-storey buildings with a total floor area of about 25,000 square meters.

 

Today, two low-cost carriers operating from Singapore-based Tiger Airways and Philippine's Cebu Pacific use the terminal.

 

The volume of low-cost carrier flights in Singapore has climbed to 11.3 percent of total flights, and plans are already in place to expand the terminal to meet the growing demand, according to the minister.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)