SINGAPORE. Singapore Changi Airport passenger traffic climbed by +6% year-on-year in 2017 to 62.2 million.
Traffic across all regions saw solid growth, with Southeast and Northeast Asia contributing to about 70% of total volumes. Among Changi’s top ten country markets, China and India led with double-digit growth of +12% and +16%, respectively. Among Changi Airport’s busiest routes, Kuala Lumpur (+7%) replaced Jakarta as Changi’s top city link for 2017. Among Changi Airport’s top 20 destinations, Guangzhou was the fastest growing (+15%), while Brisbane, Penang and Phuket recorded growth of at least +6%.
December was again the busiest month of the year, with traffic hitting 5.86 million passengers (+3.3%), while the busiest day of the year, was 22 December with 208,043 passengers – a record for one day.
As reported, Changi Airport concession sales climbed by a healthy +7.6% year-on-year in 2017 to S$2.5 billion (US$1.9 billion), a new record.
During the year, Changi Airport welcomed three passenger airlines – Hebei Airlines, Norwegian and US-Bangla Airlines, to its network of over 100 airlines. Ten new passenger city links were also established, to China (Harbin, Shijiazhuang, Yantai), Greece (Athens), India (Madurai), Japan (Hiroshima, Okinawa), Malaysia (Bintulu), Sweden (Stockholm) and USA (Honolulu).
Changi Airport Group (CAG) noted the rise of multiple transport modes on passenger journeys, including fly-cruise and fly-ferry. In 2017, a new shuttle service was launched to facilitate transfers between Changi Airport and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. To grow the fly-cruise market, CAG has also collaborated with cruise companies – which are expected to bring in more than 600,000 visitors over a four-year period.
CAG Managing Director, Air Hub Development Lim Ching Kiat said: “2017 was a significant year for Changi Airport, as we saw strong growth in both passenger traffic and cargo throughput, resulting in record numbers. We also opened the new tech-friendly Terminal 4, which served 1.3 million passengers in its first two months of operations. With the establishment of new city links to many parts of the world, and the launch of a number of non-stop long haul routes, we have also expanded our connectivity, providing greater convenience for our passengers.
“Looking ahead in 2018, we expect to see more developments in the long-haul segments to Europe. This includes Scoot’s non-stop service to Berlin, and LOT Polish Airlines’ new service connecting Singapore and Warsaw. We will also welcome the return of Qantas’ Singapore-London route and an overall increase in seat capacity between Singapore and Australia, as well as Lufthansa’s resumption of its service to Munich. At the same time, we will continue our efforts to strengthen our connectivity to secondary cities in China and India – our fastest growing markets in 2017.”
Demand for air travel in Asia Pacific is expected to triple in the next two decades, noted CAG. With the opening of Jewel Changi Airport and the completion of Changi’s Terminal 1 expansion in 2019, Changi Airport’s capacity will increase to 85 million passengers a year.
