China and India help boost Changi Airport’s passenger traffic in May

SINGAPORE — Indian and Chinese nationals helped boost passenger traffic at Changi Airport last month, and a total of five million travellers passed through its gates during that month.

Last month’s figures were an increase of 4.6 per cent compared to the same period last year, the airport said in a statement on Tuesday (June 27), bringing total passenger traffic at the airport to 25.21 million so far this year.

Traffic from South Asia saw a 17 per cent growth, with India leading the tally, charting a 21 per cent year-on-year growth, as passengers to and from Mumbai and Chennai rose by more than 20 per cent.

China was the other major market. It registered double-digit growth — 11 per cent — accounting for more than half a million passengers last month, or about one in every 10 passengers who passed through Changi.

Meanwhile, aircraft movements rose 3.2 per cent to 31,200 landings and takeoffs; and cargo shipments saw double-digit growth for the second time this year, with a year-on-year increase of 12.6 per cent to reach 177,340 tonnes, thanks in part to stable recovery of industrial activity in the United States, Germany and Japan, as improvements were seen across exports, imports and transhipments.

As of June 1, there are more than 100 airlines operating at Changi Airport, with over 7,000 weekly scheduled flights connecting Singapore to some 380 cities in 90 countries and territories worldwide.