SINGAPORE. Singapore Changi Airport posted +5.9% year-on-year growth in traffic in 2016, handling a record 58.7 million passengers.
In December, the airport recorded +7.2% growth, to 5.68 million passengers. It had the busiest day in its history on 23 December, with 202,359 travellers passing through its gates.
In 2016, routes to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and Oceania contributed 90% of the growth in passenger traffic. China moved from fifth to become Changi Airport’s third-largest country market, with traffic growth of +15%. This was on the back of strong visitor arrivals to Singapore, the airport said. Thailand (+6%) and Vietnam (+8%) also saw good passenger growth.
There was little change in the top ten list of Changi Airport’s busiest routes for the year, with Jakarta remaining at the top. Kuala Lumpur moved up one place, ahead of Bangkok. Among the airport’s top 20 city links, Guangzhou was the fastest growing (+ 21%), with Melbourne, Penang and Seoul also achieving double-digit growth.
“Despite a backdrop of economic and socio-political uncertainties, we maintain a positive outlook for the year ahead,” said Changi Airport Group CEO Lee Seow Hiang. “We see opportunities in emerging markets within Africa and Eastern Europe. At the same time, we will continue to grow our long haul routes to Western Europe, and strengthen our connectivity within the region to secondary cities in Southeast Asia, China and India.
“We have observed emerging trends such as growth in the self-transfer and fly-cruise segments, and will continue to work with our partners to develop innovative solutions to better serve passengers.
“We thank the airport community and our many partners who helped to maintain high service standards at Changi Airport even as traffic continued to grow. We look forward to their continued support in 2017 as we prepare for the opening of Terminal 4 later this year.”
