Changi Airport handled 5.56m passengers in March, an 8.7% rise from year ago

CHANGI Airport handled 5.56 million passengers in March, an 8.7 per cent increase from a year ago.

Aircraft movements were 5.4 per cent higher, with 32,590 landings and takeoffs, while cargo shipments dipped slightly by 0.6 per cent to 187,550 tonnes.

The strong growth in traffic numbers was on the back of good demand for flights across all regions, Changi Airport Group said on Thursday.

Traffic to and from Europe grew strongly at 13 per cent, boosted by the return of Qantas' daily Sydney-London service via Singapore, as well as Lufthansa's resumption of its five-times-a-week service to Munich.

Passenger movements between Singapore and Australia also grew by 9 per cent, year on year.

Changi Airport's other top country markets - China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand - also registered growth for the month, with India leading the way with a 23 per cent increase in passenger traffic in March.

With the latest numbers, Changi's first quarter traffic jumped by 5 per cent compared with the same January - March period last year, to 15.8 million passengers.

Aircraft movements during the same three months grew by 4.7 per cent, over the previous quarter, to 94,770 landings and takeoffs, while airfreight movements registered an increase of 3.6 per cent to hit 512,080 tonnes.

THE STRAITS TIMES