First quarter passenger traffic exceeds pre-Covid levels, China resumes pole position among Changi’s key country markets
Singapore Changi Airport registered 16.5 million passenger movements from January to March 2024, surpassing what was registered for the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2019) by 0.5%. The airport handled 5.43 million, 5.35 million and 5.73 million passenger movements in January, February and March 2024 respectively. These were 96%, 104.3% and 101.7% compared to the same month in 2019.
For the quarter, aircraft movements totalled 89,400 (94% of the movements in Q1 2019). Traffic to and from most regions recovered to 2019 levels, or surpassed them. North America has been the strongest performer, with traffic exceeding pre-Covid levels by 25% this quarter.
Changi Airport’s top five markets for the quarter were China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand. A mutual 30-day visa-exemption arrangement between Singapore and China, launched on 9 February 2024, has boosted travel between the two countries, propelling China as Changi’s top market for the quarter. Denpasar (Bali), Manila, Taipei, Seoul and Shanghai were among the top 10 cities which outperformed Q1 2019 by more than 10%.
From January to March 2024, airfreight throughput totalled 475,000 tonnes, an increase of 14% compared to the same period last year. This marks the first quarter of year-on-year growth after seven consecutive quarters of decline. The growth was largely attributed to strong transshipment performance, especially for flows with China. For this period, Changi’s top five air cargo markets[1]were Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and United States of America.
Mr Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s Executive Vice President for Air Hub and Cargo Development said, “We are delighted to report that passenger movements in Q1 2024 have surpassed pre-Covid volumes. This follows a steady recovery of travel in the past year. CAG has worked closely with airline partners to reinstate flights suspended during the pandemic and add new flights at Changi Airport. The strong traffic performance this quarter was boosted by the hosting of many music concerts in Singapore and the relaxing of visa requirements between China and Singapore. CAG will continue to collaborate with our airline and travel trade partners to tap into the strong travel momentum in the region. Our goal is to achieve 100% traffic recovery this year. We will also introduce new airline brands and destinations to Singapore.”
One of world’s busiest airports
Changi Airport was the world’s fifth busiest airport by international passenger volume in 2023. The report released by Airports Council International[2] shows Changi as one of only three airports in the Asia Pacific in the top 10. According to OAG[3], Changi is the world’s thirdbusiest international airport by seat capacity in March and April 2024.
Entering April, Changi Airport has seen the commencement of two new passenger service routes – Air Canada’s Vancouver-Singapore service launched on 4 April, and Singapore Airlines’ Singapore-Brussels service on 5 April. Scoot also received the delivery of its first Embraer jets on 15 April, which will enable the airline to expand its network to more regional destinations.
On the cargo front, Changi Airport welcomed two new freighter airlines – Shandong Airlines and Air Incheon, which started 4x weekly Shenzhen-Singapore services on 28 February and twice weekly Seoul-Haikou-Singapore services on 5 March respectively.
As at 1 April, 95 airlines operate over 6,800 weekly scheduled flights at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to 153 cities in 48 countries and territories worldwide.
Changi Airport’s traffic statistics are available at http://www.changiairport.com/corporate/our-expertise/air-hub/traffic-statistics.html.
