PASSENGER volume at Singapore’s Changi Airport has more than doubled to reach close to 40 per cent of pre-Covid levels in end-April, up from about 18 per cent in March, said Transport Minister S Iswaran on Wednesday (May 4).

“We are well on track to restoring passenger volumes at Changi Airport to at least 50 per cent per cent of pre-Covid levels by this year,” said Iswaran, who was speaking at the 2022 Changi Airline Awards, an event that was taking place for the first time after a 2-year pandemic-induced hiatus. It has been more than a month since Singapore allowed fully-vaccinated travellers and non-vaccinated children to enter the city-state quarantine-free under a new Vaccinated Travel Framework (VTF), marking the city-state’s most significant move to reopen its borders. 

From Apr 26, pre-departure tests are also no longer required for fully-vaccinated travellers entering Singapore via air or sea checkpoints. 

According to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), while Asia-Pacific is only expected to reach pre-Covid levels 1 year after the rest of the world, the region is poised to return to “robust growth” as the largest travel market globally, Iswaran said in his address.

The minister noted that beyond immediate recovery efforts, it is important that Singapore’s air hub thrives in the post-pandemic world - and the city-state, together with its regional partners, is well-positioned to capture these opportunities and rising demand. “The strength of our air hub has always been its connectivity, and we are committed to working closely with airline partners to grow this network,” he said. 

The minister also pointed out bright spots such as the air cargo segment during the pandemic, with cargo volumes and flights remaining “resilient”. This is on top of Singapore’s airline partners stepping up freighter and passenger aircraft for cargo-conveyance operations throughout the pandemic, he added.

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“Thanks to the collective efforts of the air cargo community, we shored up supply chains and helped key industries in Singapore sustain and grow their operations, such as in pharmaceuticals and semiconductors", Iswaran said.