Changi passenger traffic in Sept lowest this year at 4.58 million
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Changi Airport handled 4.58 million passengers last month, a 3.7 per cent increase from the same period last year. The September figure, however, is the lowest this year, with the highest passenger movement at the Republic’s airport recorded at 5.2 million in July this year.
September’s figures take passenger movements at the airport to 43.5 million in the first nine months of this year, up 6.2 per cent from the same period last year, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said on Monday (Oct 24).
“Changi is a mature airport and does not add in too many flights. In that context, any growth is good. At the same time, it continues to face competition from other hub airports like Hong Kong, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Being a very competitive airport, we do expect Changi Airport’s growth to continue, albeit, in small single digit number,” said Mr Ellis Taylor, Asia finance editor at Flightglobal.
Changi Airport currently operates two runways, serving its three terminals as well as the upcoming Terminal 4. Changi will be adding a third runway as part of the development of Changi East, which will house the mega new passenger Terminal 5 (T5). T5, slated to open its doors by the middle of the next decade, is expected to handle up to 50 million passengers a year, taking Changi’s passenger handling capacity per year to 140 million.
Changi Airport currently serves more than 100 airlines, connecting Singapore to some 330 cities in about 80 countries with more than 6,800 weekly scheduled flights. This, according to CAG, means an aircraft takes off or lands at Changi roughly once every 90 seconds.
According to the data released by CAG on Monday, aircraft movements rose by 3 per cent to 29,330 landings and takeoffs in September, taking the total for the first nine months to 268,190, up 4.2 per cent year-on-year.
Cargo shipments rose 7.8 per cent to reach 167,100 tonnes compared to the same period last year. For the first nine months, cargo shipments totalled 1.44 million tonnes, up 5.5 per cent compared with the same period last year. This, CAG said, was the fastest pace of growth in the past five years.
All of Changi’s top 10 country markets achieved positive growth year-to-date, led by China at 15.3 per cent, followed by Malaysia at 8.9 per cent and Indonesia at 6.4 per cent, according to the latest figures released by Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Monday. Jakarta continued to be Changi Airport’s busiest route for the same period, followed closely by Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
