Singapore Changi Airport passenger movements up 11.9% in January 2011

Traffic on low cost carriers grew 27% compared to a year ago.

According to Changi Airport Group, some 3.79 million passenger movements were handled by Singapore Changi Airport in January 2011.

Low cost carriers continued to drive growth to and from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia. Traffic for these regions recorded double-digit growth as airlines such as Tiger Airways, AirAsia and Cebu Pacific increased frequencies to cities such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Manila respectively. Traffic growth to and from Russia was also strong as Transaero Airlines started operations to Moscow while Singapore Airlines had increased frequency on the sector in the last quarter of 2010.

About one in four passengers who passed through Changi was carried on an LCC. Traffic on full service carriers grew 8%, registering 2.9 million passenger movements. 

The growth in passenger traffic was in line with an 11.6% increase in aircraft movementsto 24,000 flights. During the month, Air Macau and Hong Kong Airlines started operations at Changi Airport with twice-weekly passenger services to Macau and daily services to Hong Kong respectively. In addition, China Eastern Airlines introduced twice-weekly services to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi in southern China, a new city link on Changi’s network.

On the cargo front, airfreight handled at Changi Airport continued to grow for the 16th consecutive month, rising 4% year-on-year to 147,000 tonnes in January 2011.

Changi Airport served a record of more than 42 million passengers in 2010, 13% more than in 2009. Passenger traffic at Changi grew by at a compounded annual growth rate of 3.9% from 2000 to 2010.

Changi Airport serves some 100 airlines operating 5,400 weekly scheduled flights, connecting Singapore to more than 200 cities in 60 countries and territories.