Changi Airport handled 33.01 million passengers in the first half of 2024. – The Straits Times
SINGAPORE: Changi Airport handled 33.01 million passengers in the first half of 2024, or 99.3 per cent of the passenger movement numbers recorded for the same period in 2019, when there were 33.23 million passenger movements.
This marks the highest number of such movements recorded for the first half of any year since Covid-19 struck in 2020, based on the latest figures released by operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Friday (July 26).
The airport registered 960,000 tonnes of airfreight movements for the first half of 2024, or 97.66 per cent of the 983,000 tonnes for the same period in 2019.
There were 178,500 commercial aircraft taking off and landing at Changi Airport in the first half of 2024, or 94.1 per cent of the 189,700 aircraft movements for the same period in 2019.
From April to June, the airport saw 16.5 million passenger movements, an increase of 13.4 per cent from the same period in 2023, and 98.2 per cent of the passenger movements for the corresponding period in 2019, CAG said on July 26.
Passenger traffic beat pre-pandemic numbers by a slight margin of about 1.4 per cent for the month of May, with the airport handling 5.48 million passengers, overtaking the 5.41 million handled in May 2019.
Aircraft movements, including landings and take-offs, totalled 89,300 for the second quarter of the year, up 9.7 per cent year on year, CAG said.
The airport’s top five markets for the second quarter were Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Australia and India.
China recorded the highest growth among Changi’s top markets, with traffic doubling compared with the same period in 2023 and surpassing pre-pandemic numbers.
China was the airport’s top market in February, March and June in 2024.
It accounted for 3.7 million passenger movements in the first half of 2024, forming 11 per cent of the airport’s total passenger traffic for this period.
Changi registered 486,000 tonnes of airfreight movements for the second quarter of 2024, 16 per cent up from the same period a year ago, CAG said.
Its top five air cargo markets for the quarter were Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and the US.
Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s executive vice-president for air hub and cargo development, reiterated the airport’s goal of striving for full travel recovery by the end of 2024.
As at July 1, 94 airlines operate more than 6,900 weekly flights at Changi, connecting Singapore to 158 cities in 50 countries and territories worldwide.
Asked whether the airport would be able to meet its goal of recovering to pre-pandemic levels, Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics, said: “All things being equal, yes, Changi could meet its targets, although there might be disruptions in the financial markets, as well as in geopolitics, that could scupper that.”
Shukor added that the airport’s performance mirrors the continuous surge in air travel in the region.
Mayur Patel, head of Asia at aviation data consultancy OAG Aviation, said that while capacity constraints and the perception that Singapore is an expensive destination are obstacles the airport faces, he is “cautiously optimistic” that it will recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, though this depends on factors such as macroeconomic conditions.
Upcoming events such as the Formula One race in September – which may create a Taylor Swift effect and draw passenger traffic the way the singer’s March concerts here did – as well as cargo and passenger traffic tending to be stronger in the latter half of the year for Asia, bode well for the coming months, he said. – The Straits Times/ANN
