The operator of Singapore’s US$6bn Marina Bay Sands resort is appealing to the city-state’s authorities for more land, saying its 2,563-room hotel is close to full-occupancy.

Las Vegas Sands – the world’s biggest casino operator – wants to add 1,500 rooms to the hotel, as well as meeting rooms, ballrooms and exhibition spaces, when the Singapore government releases more land, according to company chair Sheldon Adelson.

“We need more rooms. We are running at a 100 per cent occupancy; on a bad day it’s 98 per cent. No other hotel in the world runs like this except some in Vegas,” he told Bloomberg.

The Marina Bay Sands resort opened in 2010 and has been a chief beneficiary of the Singapore government’s decision to overturn its casino ban to encourage economic growth.

The resort is the centre-piece of an area being developed under government plans to include waterfront pedestrian areas, performance spaces, a museum and restaurants.