China regains position in top 5 for Q3 passenger traffic at Changi Airport

AS borders re-open post Covid-19, China is now among the top five markets for Changi Airport for the first time since 2019.

Passenger traffic to and from China increased in the third quarter of 2023 due to increased travel during the Middle Kingdom’s two-month summer holiday between July and August, and the resumption of 15-day visa-free entry for Singaporeans. 

Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s executive vice-president for Air Hub and Cargo Development, said: “Traffic to and from China saw a surge in August, with half a million travellers handled that month, more than seven times the traffic in January 2023 when China’s borders first reopened.”

The other countries with highest passenger traffic handled by Changi Airport were Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. 

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, China was the second-largest passenger market for Changi Airport behind Indonesia in 2019.

On Monday (Oct 23), Changi Airport Group said the airport handled 4.87 million passenger movements in September, 89 per cent of the number handled in September 2019. 

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There were 27,800 landings and take-offs recorded, about 89 per cent of September 2019 levels. 

Airfreight throughput stood at 154,000 tonnes last month, on a par with what was carried in the same month last year. 

For the quarter, there were 15.3 million passenger movements through Changi Airport, while landings and take-offs totalled 85,600. 

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In July, Changi Airport opened its first link to the Beijing Daxing International Airport, a new mega airport in the south of China’s capital which began operating in September 2019. Flights are serviced by China Eastern Airlines. 

Singapore Airlines has also announced it will start passenger flights between Singapore and Brussels in April 2024, which will increase the number of passenger city links to Europe to 16. 

Lim said: “As we move towards 2024, we will continue to work with airlines to reinstate more city links and strengthen capacity on existing routes, to further strengthen Changi Airport’s connectivity to the rest of the world.”