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Singapore Changi Airport handled 3.86 million passenger movements in August 2011, an increase of 11.2% over the same month last year. Aircraft movements grew in tandem by 14.9% with 25,700 movements recorded during the month. Year-to-date, passenger movements grew 11.2% to 30.4 million.
Regional traffic to and from Northeast and Southeast Asia continued to underpin demand for air travel. Growth was strongest for Bangkok, Denpasar (Bali), Hong Kong, Manila and Tokyo, with each registering a double-digit increase. Traffic between Singapore and Tokyo (12.0%) and all of Japan (14.4%) grew for the second consecutive month. Low cost carriers (LCCs) carried 26.3% more passengers compared to a year ago while full service carriers grew 6.8% albeit from a bigger base. LCCs accounted for a quarter of all flights at Changi.
Changi Airport welcomed the commencement of Jetstar’s thrice-weekly services linking Singapore to Ningbo, China on 9 September. Ningbo is the third1 new Chinese city to be connected to Singapore this year. India’s largest LCC IndiGo Airlines also began operations at Changi on 15 September. The airline operates a daily service to New Delhi and will begin Singapore-Mumbai flights from the middle of October.
Airfreight movements at Changi Airport totalled 153,000 tonnes in August, a dip of 0.9% on-year. A more than 7% increase in cargo transhipments could not offset the decline in exports and imports. Year-to-date, Changi has handled 1.22 million tonnes of cargo, a 2.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
During August, Changi strengthened its connection to Greater China with Singapore Airlines Cargo increasing frequencies to Xiamen and Shanghai while Hong Kong Airlines launched three additional weekly Singapore-Hong Kong freighter services. Singapore Airlines Cargo also increased frequencies to Sydney and Auckland.
As at 1 September 2011, Changi Airport serves 100 airlines operating more than 5,900 weekly flights to some 200 cities in 60 countries and territories.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
