Record 50m passengers pass Changi Airport gates this year

By Nisha Ramchandani
The Business Times

SINGAPORE - Changi Airport has crossed the 50 million passenger milestone this year, just two years after hitting the 40 million mark, as low-cost carriers and intra-Asia travel continue to boost passenger numbers.

From January to November, Changi Airport handled 46.3 million passengers, on a par with the 46.5 million passengers for the whole of 2011, thanks partly to strong double-digit growth in travel to and from North-east Asia and South Asia, airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) said last Friday.

Typically strong markets, such as South-east Asia, the South-west Pacific and Europe, continued to register growth, even as numbers for the full year are being tallied.

"Despite a sluggish global economy and an uncertain outlook for air travel, Changi Airport has risen against the challenges to deliver another record-breaking year in 2012. CAG will continue to invest in infrastructure to ensure that we keep pace with future growth and that we continually provide passengers with a first-class Changi experience," said CAG's chief executive officer, Lee Seow Hiang.

Said Nicodemus Lampe, vice-president (Asia) of Garuda Indonesia: "Singapore is an important market for Garuda Indonesia and also the largest international destination in our global network. Today, we operate more than 130 weekly flights to and from Changi to Jakarta, Bali, Balikpapan and Makassar, with more destinations to follow in 2013."

Indonesia is Changi's top market.

Its 6.2 million passengers between January and November, up 8.6 per cent year-on-year, accounted for 13.4 per cent of total traffic handled at the airport.

Nearly 60 per cent of the 6.2 million passenger movements were on the Jakarta-Singapore route.

Changi is expanding to cater to the rising number of travellers walking through its gates, with the Budget Terminal being revamped to reopen as Terminal 4 in 2017, raising Changi's passenger-handling capacity to 85 million passengers per year.

Given projections of flight traffic growth, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is working to raise the airport's aircraft handling capacity from the 302,000 take-offs and landings it recorded last year.

Measures to improve air-traffic management and increase runway availability are being put in place, as are collaborative projects with industry players, which could raise capacity by 40 per cent to 430,000 aircraft movements in coming years.

To ease traffic congestion, the possibility of a third runway is being studied by the multi-agency Changi 2036 Steering Committee.

To celebrate hitting the 50 million threshold this month, CAG last Friday held an event together with Garuda to welcome flight GA824 from Jakarta to Singapore, the second-busiest international air route in the world.

The flight touched down at 10.18am last Friday to a water-canon salute, and the 160 passengers onboard were given a special gift pack, which included shopping vouchers and a commemorative certificate.