Oral Reply by Minister for Transport S Iswaran to Parliamentary Questions on Changi Airport’s Passenger Traffic Targets and the Progress of the Re-opening of the Airport’s Air Routes and Its Air Hub Status

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Transport given passenger traffic at Changi Airport in June 2022 has reached the target of 50% of pre-pandemic levels, whether the Government has reassessed passenger traffic targets for end- 2022 and 2023 and, if so what are they.

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Transport

a.     what is the current progress of the re-opening of Changi Airport’s air routes;

b.     how does Changi Airport currently rank amongst regional and global air hubs on connectivity and passenger volume; and

c.     what is the projected progress of the re-opening of Changi Airport’s air routes by end of 2022.

Reply by Minister for Transport S Iswaran:

1.     As of the first week of July 2022, weekly passenger traffic at Changi Airport has recovered to about 55% of 2019’s average weekly levels. This is on the back of weekly passenger services by airlines recovering to more than 50% of pre-COVID levels. Changi is also connected to 108 cities by passenger flights as of July 2022, which is more than 65% of the number of cities it was connected to before the pandemic.

2.     The pattern of recovery across the world has been uneven. Air hubs in regions such as Europe, North America and the Middle East, which reopened their borders earlier, have seen a faster recovery. International passenger traffic at the Middle Eastern air hubs of Dubai, Doha and Istanbul had recovered to more than 90% of their pre-COVID levels even before June 2022. The connectivity at these hubs, in terms of international city links, is also at 90% or more of pre-COVID levels, as of June 2022.

3.     Within the Asia-Pacific region, Changi is leading the recovery. As of June 2022, compared to the major Asia-Pacific air hubs such as Incheon, Hong Kong and Bangkok, Changi is ahead in terms of both international passenger traffic and city links vis-à-vis pre-COVID levels.

4.     Demand for air travel remains fundamentally strong. We expect the recovery at Changi to continue, and to gather pace when key markets in Northeast Asia, including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan, fully re-open their borders.

5.     To ensure that Changi will be ready to manage the anticipated traveller flows, the Changi Airport Group has announced that it will re-open Terminal 4 from 13 September, and commence departure operations in the southern wing of Terminal 2 from October. This will enable the airport to handle up to pre-COVID passenger traffic levels, or about 70 million passengers per annum, which represents about 80% of Changi’s pre-COVID capacity. To support this ramp up in capacity, our aviation stakeholders are also working hard to build up their manpower and restore the traveller experience that Changi is renowned for.

6.     With the efforts and support of the entire aviation community and our partners, we will be ready to welcome more passengers and airlines back to Singapore, and ultimately restore Changi’s position as a pre-eminent global and regional air hub.