SINGAPORE. Singapore Changi Airport recorded 4.54 million passenger movements in March 2015, representing year-on-year growth of +0.9%. Aircraft movements declined by -1.2% with 28,800 landings and take-offs.
During the month, traffic to and from Southwest Pacific and South Asia registered growths of +8% and +4.9% respectively. Passenger traffic to and from Thailand continued to rise, increasing +20% over the previous year with Bangkok traffic soaring +30%. China traffic rose an encouraging +3.4%.
In the first quarter of 2015, Changi Airport handled 13.1 million passengers, -0.9% lower than the previous year. Aircraft movements were lower by -2.5% to 84,060. Overall, traffic was weaker across most regions although there was a +4.7% increase for the quarter for South Asia traffic.
As at 1 April 2015, more than 100 airlines operate at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to some 320 cities in 80 countries and territories worldwide. With more than 6,600 weekly scheduled flights, an aircraft takes off or lands at Changi roughly once every 90 seconds.
New openings and services
Changi Airport welcomed the opening of a number of retail outlets in March. At Terminal 2, several fashion, lifestyle and sports brands including adidas, Lacoste, Avenue Kids and Montblanc, opened new stores within the transit area. Bratpack has opened its first transit store at Terminal 3, offering passengers a well curated range of casual bags and accessories. Confectionery retailers So Chocolate and The Cocoa Trees opened new outlets in the transit areas of Terminal 2 and 3 respectively.
For food & beverage, Italian café operator Culto Caffe opened its first outlet in Singapore within the transit area of Terminal 1. The transit area at Terminal 3 welcomed Dunkin Donuts, Hong Kong Sheng Kee Desserts and Carlsberg Sports Bar. In addition, ramen chain Ippudo has opened its first airport store, Ippudo Express, with a new product on its menu – dip sandwiches – in addition to its signature ramen.
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On the airline front, Changi Airport welcomed a series of new services as the Northern Summer 2015 season began in March.
Oman Air commenced its daily Muscat-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur service on 29 March, adding Muscat as a new passenger city link for Changi Airport. The service replaced the previous Muscat-Kuala Lumpur non-stop service.
Xiamen Airlines now offers daily non-stop services to Fuzhou and Hangzhou, replacing the previous daily Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Singapore service. With this change, Xiamen Airlines now offer four daily flights to seven Chinese cities. The Singapore-Hangzhou service continues to Xi’an, making Xiamen Airlines the second carrier to offer flights from Singapore to Xi’an.
Tigerair has also commenced flights to the Chinese cities of Guilin and Nanning, serving these cities once and three times weekly respectively.
Lao Airlines has expanded its Vientiane service to operate onwards to Luang Prabang, a new city link for Changi Airport. The Singapore-Vientiane-Luang Prabang service operates thrice weekly.
Frequencies for the following services have also been increased:
• Bangkok Airways to Koh Samui – from seven to ten times weekly
• Singapore Airlines to Bangkok – from 35 to 37 times weekly
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