Published March 25, 2014 Changi passenger traffic in Feb dips marginally Freight traffic at the airport was lower by 2.6% last month BY NISHA RAMCHANDANI Now boarding: For the first two months of the year, Changi saw 8.7 million passengers passing through the airport, up 3.1 per cent year-on-year. - PHOTO: BLOOMBERG PASSENGER traffic at Changi Airport dipped 0.2 per cent year-on-year last month while freight traffic was lower by 2.6 per cent. Airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) said yesterday that the airport registered 4.1 million passengers last month, while cargo volume slipped to 127,681 tonnes. However, aircraft landings and take-offs were up 3.2 per cent at 26,764. The decrease in Februarys passenger traffic could be partly due to seasonal factors, since Chinese New Year was in February last year. The Lunar New Year holidays this year started in late January, 10 days earlier than in 2013, said CAG in a statement. Passenger traffic to Bangkok declined by as much as 29 per cent last month as the ongoing protests in the troubled capital city dampened travel demand. Carriers such as Singapore Airlines (SIA) have been cutting flights to Bangkok in response to the softer demand. Traffic to the Americas also continued to feel the impact of the cessation of SIAs non-stop flights to New York and Los Angeles, which it stopped operating late last year as the carrier struggled with the high fuel costs and flagging demand associated with the non-stop flights. However, the slackening in other markets was offset by a rise in passenger traffic to markets such as North-east Asia, South-east Asia and South Asia, CAG said. Popular travel destinations which racked up double-digit traffic growth in February include Bali and Kuala Lumpur. For the first two months of the year, Changi saw 8.7 million passengers passing through the airport, up 3.1 per cent year-on-year, while air freight edged up 0.8 per cent to 279,057 tonnes. Aircraft landings and take-offs increased 5.5 per cent to 57,117. Last year, Changi handled a record 53.7 million passengers, a 5 per cent increase over 2012. This year, Changi is projecting a growth rate of 3-5 per cent in passenger throughput, citing base effects and macroeconomic conditions. More than 100 airlines operate at Changi, linking Singapore to 280 cities in about 60 countries and territories worldwide.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:08:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015