Changi Airport registers more than 50 million passengers in 2012

SINGAPORE, 28 December 2012 – Singapore Changi Airport will end 2012 with a new milestone in its history, registering more than 50 million passenger movements for the year.  This traffic record is reached just two years after Changi Airport crossed the 40-million milestone in 2010.

In the past two years, passenger traffic at Changi Airport has continued to grow strongly due to an increasing number of low cost travel options and booming demand for intra-Asia travel.  The number of passengers departing from, arriving at and transiting through Changi Airport rose 10.7% in 2011 and increased by another 10.1% in the first 11 months of 2012.

To commemorate this significant occasion, Changi Airport Group (CAG) today held a celebratory event, in partnership with Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda Indonesia, to welcome the arrival of Flight GA824 from Jakarta to Singapore, the second busiest international air route in the world.

GA824 touched down at Changi Airport at 1018 hours to a water canon salute and lively fanfare.  Some 200 members of the airport community and travel industry partners gave a warm welcome at Terminal 3 to the more than 160 passengers on board the flight.  Each passenger received a special gift pack containing shopping vouchers and souvenirs, as well as a commemorative certificate of the occasion.

Five lucky passengers were also selected to take part in an exciting game show at Changi Airport’s Departure Transit area.  One of them, Ms Prayanto Inkarani, a 24 year-old lawyer from Jakarta, walked away with the top prize of S$50,000 worth of shopping vouchers and retail products from Changi Airport, as well as a pair of Singapore-Jakarta Executive Class air tickets sponsored by Garuda Indonesia. The other four passengers each received S$1,000 in Changi Dollar Vouchers.

Ms Inkarani’s prize comprises S$10,000 in Changi Dollar Vouchers and 37 items available at Changi Airport’s more than 330 retail stores.  These include an OSIM uDivine Massage Chair, an Omega watch, an Apple MacBook Pro, a Samsonite suitcase, beauty products from SKII and La Mer, fashion items from Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Bonia, Longchamp and Tiffany & Co., apparel from Desigual and Adidas, as well as Chupa Chups and M&M’s candies.  The full prize list is in Annex A.

“I am so surprised and excited; it’s like a great dream!  I can’t believe there are all these wonderful prizes, which I’m definitely going to share with my family, such as the OSIM chair for my father, bags for my mother and shoes for my brothers,” said an ecstatic Ms Inkarani, who is visiting Singapore for a week-long holiday with her family to celebrate the new year.

Record annual passenger traffic

Changi Airport handled 46.3 million passengers from January to November 2012.  This 11-month figure is already close to the 46.5 million passenger movements achieved for the whole of 2011.

Robust double-digit growth in travel to and from Northeast Asia and South Asia contributed to the increase in passenger traffic since the start of the year. Traditionally strong markets such as Southeast Asia, Southwest Pacific and Europe also continued to grow healthily, accentuating Changi’s status as a major air hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the month of November alone, 4.37 million passenger movements were registered, a 12.2% increase year-on-year. The operating indicators for November 2012 are provided in Annex B and are also available at http://www.changiairportgroup.com/cag/html/the-group/air_traffic_statistics.html.  

As at 1 December 2012, Changi Airport serves 109 airlines operating some 6,400 weekly scheduled flights to and from more than 230 cities in 60 countries and territories worldwide.

Growth made possible by strong airline partnerships

Mr Lee Seow Hiang, CAG’s Chief Executive Officer, said “Despite a sluggish global economy and an uncertain outlook for air travel, Changi Airport has risen against the challenges to deliver another record breaking year in 2012.  This is the outcome of our strong partnerships with airlines like Garuda and concerted proactive efforts with them to grow air links and increase flight frequencies.

“We thank our many airline partners, the airport community and the tens of millions of passengers who have given us their solid support this past year.  CAG will continue to invest in infrastructure at Changi Airport to ensure that we keep pace with future growth and that we continually provide passengers with a first class Changi Experience.”

Indonesia remains Changi’s top market

In terms of passenger traffic, Indonesia remains Changi Airport’s top country market, accounting for 13.4% of total traffic handled at Changi from January to November 2012.  During this period some 6.2 million passenger movements to and from Indonesia were registered, representing a healthy 8.6% growth for the market on a year-on-year basis.

There is strong connectivity between Indonesia and Singapore, with a wide network of air links to 16 Indonesian cities[1] via 1,000 weekly flights operated by 16 airlines[2].  From January to November 2012, there were 3.7 million passenger movements on the Jakarta-Singapore route, making the Indonesian capital Changi’s busiest city link out of a total of over 230 cities links worldwide.  Two other Singapore routes – to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong – are also among the world’s five busiest international routes based on seat capacity[3].

Garuda at Changi Airport

As the national carrier of Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia has been a long time partner of Changi Airport, playing a significant role in growing traffic between Singapore and Indonesia.  The airline’s first flight to Singapore was in 1966 to then Paya Lebar Airport, from Jakarta.  Its operations moved to Changi Airport when the latter opened in 1981.

Mr Nicodemus Lampe, Vice President, Area Asia, Garuda Indonesia said, “Garuda Indonesia has had a strong presence in Singapore, with our operations dating as far back as the early days of the country’s independence.  Singapore is an important market for Garuda Indonesia and also the largest international destination in our global network.  Today, we operate more than 130 weekly flights to and from Changi to Jakarta, Bali, Balikpapan and Makassar with more destinations to follow in 2013. 

“We are honoured to be part of Changi Airport’s 50-million passengers’ celebration today.  Going forward, we will continue to work closely with CAG to achieve growth together, as we capitalise on the opportunities presented within the Asia Pacific region.”

[1] Balikpapan; Bandung; Denpasar; Jakarta; Lombok; Makassar; Manado; Medan; Padang; Palembang; Pekanbaru; Pontianak; Semarang; Solo; Surabaya; Yogyakarta

[2] AirAsia Indonesia; Batavia Air; China Airlines; Garuda Indonesia; Jetstar Airways International; KLM; Lion Air; Mandala Airlines; Philippine Airlines; Qatar Airways; SilkAir; Singapore Airlines; Sriwijaya Airlines; Tiger Airways; Turkish Airlines, Valuair

[3] SIN-KUL and SIN-HKG are at #3 and #4 respectively.