Singapore holds position as Apac air hub as travel restrictions lift globally

SINGAPORE has retained its coveted status as Asia-Pacific’s transit hub, with transit passengers in roughly the same proportion as rival hub Doha in the Middle East, according to bookings data for year-end travel from ForwardKeys.

The Republic is also among the most popular destinations in the region for year-end travellers.

International air bookings recorded by the global air travel analytics company as at Jul 1 for travelling into Asia-Pacific in November and December show Singapore tops the tally — although travel volume is still just 83 per cent of pre-pandemic levels for the city-state.

Singapore is pipped by Dubai if the geography is expanded to include the Middle East. Dubai’s volume is at 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Another Middle Eastern city, Doha, is the fifth most popular destination. But its inbound bookings have exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 9 per cent.

Inbound bookings into Singapore, said ForwardKeys, are driven by short-stay travellers in transit, with 51.5 per cent staying for up to 24 hours only. A similar proportion is recorded for Doha, at 51.1 per cent. Dubai’s one-night travellers make up 29.3 per cent of the total.

Kee Bing Han, vice-president of sales for Asia-Pacific at ForwardKeys, said Dubai is showing a more robust “truly inbound” recovery, given its top inbound booking volume and much lower transit traffic.

Manila and 2 Indian cities have inbound bookings comparable to pre-pandemic levels, but these are dominated by those visiting friends and relatives or returning residents, going by their length of stay. ForwardKeys data show 49.5 per cent of travellers into Delhi would stay for more than 22 days. The corresponding figure for Mumbai is 58.5 per cent; and for Manila, 63.3 per cent.

Singapore’s aviation recovery, reported by The Business Times earlier, is asymmetrical, with outbound air ticket bookings for November-December travelling having exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 47 per cent.

What is noteworthy is that it emerges top in terms of outbound international bookings, according to the data on the 16 airports from ForwardKeys. 

Among the airports studied by ForwardKeys, only Doha’s outbound international traffic during the year-end period is as impressive — outperforming pre-pandemic levels by 155 per cent. But its outbound volume cannot hold a candle to Singapore’s, given Doha’s 11th position.

Sydney and Dubai, in spite of not reaching pre-pandemic levels, seem on track to achieve them, at 92 per cent and 94 per cent, respectively. Bookings might still improve, stated ForwardKeys, as most tickets are purchased close to the travel date.

The strong figures for Middle Eastern countries and Singapore are somewhat reflective of these countries being among the first in the region to open selectively for international travel, Kee said. “Also, prior to the pandemic, these source markets are already among the region’s most enthusiastic travellers and fervent shoppers.”

Recovery for the rest, however, is not as remarkable, as none of them has exceeded 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, Kee said.

The Greater China airports, notably, are among those that are receiving the lowest traffic, as the country is largely out of bounds to international visitors, given the strict quarantine and testing regime in place.

Drilling deeper, ForwardKeys found markets that send top traveller traffic into Asia-Pacific are Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Canada, in descending order by booking volume. But only the Asian country’s residents are travelling more than pre-pandemic within the region during the year-end period.

Asia-Pacific residents, going by ForwardKeys data, are making the US their top year-end travel destination, followed by Singapore, India, the UK and the United Arab Emirates.