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Changi Airport’s Passenger Movements Exceeds Pre-Covid Levels in Q1 2024

  • 27 Apr 2024

Jewel Changi Airport. Photo: Canva, Pia Ong

Singapore Changi Airport (CAG) recorded passenger movements at 16.5 million between January and March 2024, successfully exceeding pre-pandemic figures in the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2019) by 0.5%.

In a media release on 25 April 2024, CAG shared numbers on its total passenger movements in January, February, and March 2024, which recorded to be 5.43 million, 5.35 million, and 5.73 million, respectively. These numbers were 96%, 104.3% and 101.7% compared to the same month in 2019.

Changi Airport’s top markets for the quarter were China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Thailand. China’s high ranking in the first quarter was due to the mutual 30-day visa-exemption arrangement between Singapore and China, that was launched in early February 2024, which helped boost travel between the two countries. Cities like Denpasar (Bali), Manila, Taipei, Seoul, and Shanghai were also among the top 10 cities that exceeded Q1 2019 performance by over 10%.

In Q1 2024, there were a total of 89,400 aircraft movements, accounting for 94% of the movements in Q1 2019. As traffic to and from most regions has also rebounded to 2019 levels or even surpassed them, North America stood out as the top performer, indicating a 25% increase in traffic compared to pre-Covid levels during this quarter.

On CAG’s air cargo numbers, from January to March 2024, the airfreight throughput has reached 475,000 tonnes, showing a 14% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This signifies the first quarter of year-on-year growth following seven consecutive quarters of decline. The rise was mainly driven by the strong transshipment performance, especially for flows with China.

During this period, Changi Airport’s top five air cargo markets (in alphabetical order) were Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, and the United States.

Mr Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s Executive Vice President for Air Hub and Cargo Development notes on the “steady recovery of travel” in CAG’s passenger movements in the past year and adds that the “strong traffic performance this quarter was boosted by the hosting of many music concerts in Singapore and the relaxing of visa requirements between China and Singapore.”

In the statement, Mr Lim also mentioned that “CAG will continue to collaborate with our airline and travel trade partners to tap into the strong travel momentum in the region. Our goal is to achieve 100% traffic recovery this year. We will also introduce new airline brands and destinations to Singapore.”

In April, Changi Airport has introduced two new passenger service routes: Air Canada’s Vancouver-Singapore service and Singapore Airlines’ Singapore-Brussels service. As of 1st April, there are 95 airlines operating over 6,800 weekly scheduled flights at Changi Airport, linking Singapore to 153 cities in 48 countries and territories worldwide.

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