Changi passenger traffic up 5.7% in first 11 months

Singapore

PASSENGER traffic at Changi Airport grew 5.7 per cent to 53 million in the first 11 months of this year, putting the airport on track to post year-on-year growth.

Other metrics such as aircraft movements and cargo traffic for the January-to-November period were also up year on year. Cargo shipments grew 6.1 per cent to 1.79 million tonnes, while aircraft take-offs and landings increased 4.1 per cent to reach 328,520.

Last year, the airport handled a record 55.4 million passengers, with some 5.29 million passengers passing through Singapore in December 2015.

Last month, Changi handled 4.78 million passengers, up 3.2 per cent year on year.

Meanwhile, aircraft movements expanded 3.4 per cent to 29,710 landings and take-offs, while cargo shipments were up 7.9 per cent at 173,170 tonnes.

According to airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG), passenger traffic in November was bolstered by growth in air travel to and from South-east Asia, North-east Asia and South Asia.

"Among Changi's top 10 country markets, China (13.7 per cent), Vietnam (9.9 per cent) and India (9.8 per cent) led the gainers," said CAG. "As for Changi's top 10 cities, strong traffic growth was observed between Singapore and South-east Asian cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, and Ho Chi Minh City."

Next year will see the opening of Terminal 4 (T4), which has already received its temporary occupation permit; the terminal will boost capacity by 16 million annually when it comes onstream in the second half of 2017. Meanwhile, trials will begin from the year-end to ensure operational readiness, such as the testing of airport systems and processes, which will involve live flights.

Against the backdrop of a tight labour market, T4 will adopt a slew of do-it-yourself options and other initiatives such as self-service boarding and a centralised security screening.

In November, more flights out of Changi were mounted - a new service to Kolkata in India by Air India Express.

Jet Airways commenced daily services to Bangalore this month.

Meanwhile, SilkAir has launched four weekly services to Fuzhou, while Xiamen Airlines boosted its frequency between Singapore and Xiamen from 14 times weekly to 17 times weekly.

In addition, Myanmar National Airlines has added frequency to Yangon, taking its service from seven weekly flights to 12 weekly flights as at Dec 1.