The opening of Thailand's new airport will spur competition as Singapore and Malaysia boost their own air traffic capacity in a bid to be the region's top aviation hub, analysts say.

The Suvarnabhumi Airport near Bangkok, with an annual capacity of 45 million passengers, will open on Thursday, becoming Southeast Asia's largest airport and on a par with Hong Kong International Airport.

Thai military leaders, who toppled the government of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup on Sept 19, have promised that the takeover will not affect the airport's operations.

But analysts said Suvarnabhumi, which means "Golden Land" in Thai, faces cut-throat competition from Singapore and Malaysia as the rivals plan to build new air terminals to increase passenger capacity and outpace Thailand.

"Even after the opening of Suvarnabhumi, Thailand cannot sit still," said Choosak Ratanachaichan, an aviation analyst at Kasikorn Research Center.

"We have to think about expansion as well. We cannot be satisfied with 45 million passengers because others, mainly Singapore, will soon catch up with us," Choosak said.

Changi to be world's fourth-busiest?

Singapore's Changi Airport, which received a record 32.4 million passengers last year, will finish building a new terminal by 2008 as part of efforts to defend its position as the region's leading aviation hub.

The new terminal will double Changi's annual passenger handling capacity to 64 million, far outpacing Suvarnabhumi's initial scope.

The expansion could also turn Changi into the world's fourth-busiest airport behind Atlanta, which saw 85.9 million passengers in 2005, Chicago's O'Hare at 76.5 million and London's Heathrow at 67.9 million, according to Airports Council International.

Siriwan Naphawaranon, an aviation analyst at Siam City Securities, said Bangkok's new 3.0-billion-dollar airport must quickly boost its capacity to beat Singapore and Malaysia.

"Since global demand for air travelling will remain robust for the next 20 years, everyone wants to increase their air traffic capacity to attract more passengers," Siriwan said.

"Everyone wants to become a key regional hub, so competition for Thailand is very tough," she said.

While Suvarnabhumi's initial capacity stands at 45 million passengers per year, the airport can increase it to 100 million once the new facility becomes fully operational.

"Thailand is well aware of the regional competition. Most of our neighbors' airports are pretty new, so they can easily upgrade facilities to attract more passengers," said Sukhbir Khanijoh, an economist at Kasikorn Securities.

KLIA's second satellite terminal

Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport ( left ), which opened in 1998, will finish building a second satellite terminal by 2008 to double passenger handling capacity to more than 40 million per year.

Hong Kong International Airport also opened in 1998 and received 40.3 million passengers last year.

Thailand's airport authority plans to build a separate terminal for low-cost airlines at Suvarnabhumi to compete with Singapore and Malaysia, which both opened no-frills terminals in March this year.

Suvarnabhumi, located 25km east of Bangkok, has been under development for more than 40 years and suffered repeated delays due to construction problems and graft allegations.

The new airport will replace the overburdened Don Muang Airport, which handles about 37 million passengers, two million more than designed.

"The timing of opening Suvarnabhumi is good. If we missed this opportunity, Thailand would be left behind regional competitors for good," aviation analyst Choosak said.