3.4 Million Indian Passengers Contribute to Singapore Changi Airport's Record Growth in 2015

MUMBAI, June 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

- India Continues to be a Key Growth Market for Changi Airport 

- Mumbai was one of Changi's Fastest Growing Routes 

- 5.9% Retail Sales Contributed by Indian Passengers 

Singapore Changi Airport scaled new benchmarks for passenger traffic and aircraft movements, handling a record 55.4 million passengers and about 346,300 landings and take-offs in 2015. Registering 3.44 million Indian passenger movements, India remains Changi Airport's seventh largest country market. On the cargo front, airfreight movements remained stable at 1.85 million tonnes for the year.

Mumbai was Changi's fourth fastest growing route (+8.2% on-year) among destinations with at least half a million passengers handled in 2015. Bangkok, Colombo and Guangzhou took the top three spots. In December alone, Mumbai saw close to 11% increase in traffic.

The addition of a new service to Lucknow increased the total number of Changi's city links to India to 13, strengthening the airport's position as the most connected airport in Southeast Asia to India. In terms of traffic, the top 5 Indian cities for Changi Airport are Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Tiruchirappalli.

Changi Airport also identified India as fourth amongst the top five nationalities by concession sale in 2015, with 5.9% of retail sales (+4.2% on-year) being contributed by Indian passenger traffic during the year. The annual data also reveals that favourite buys for Indian passengers last year were liquor and tobacco, perfumes and cosmetics followed by confectionaries, electronics and jewellery.

December 2015 was the busiest month for Changi Airport in terms of retail sales, with international brands like Zara and Samsung launching their first airport stores in Singapore and other attractive promotions like Star Wars plush toys redemption adding to the surge in the number of passengers.

Shaping the best possible travel experience 

Changi Airport received its 500th Best Airport award in November 2015 and this milestone rounded up another year of excellence during which Changi clinched a total of 28 'Best Airport' awards, including the World's Best Airport accolade at the 2015 Skytrax World Airport Awards, an honour Changi achieved for the third year in a row and the sixth time in its history.

Changi Airport Group CEO Mr Lee Seow Hiang, said, "2015 was a year of two halves for Changi Airport. Following 2014, which saw a number of airline incidents in the region and depressed yields for many regional carriers, we had a relatively weak first six months with flat growth for the period. Nevertheless, we pressed on to actively woo new airlines and seek growth opportunities with existing ones, and our efforts have yielded some positive outcomes. We have seen both full-service and low-cost carriers add capacity in recent months and this has resulted in stronger passenger growth of about 5% for the second half of the year.

"Going forward, economic uncertainty in many markets, made worse by lackluster business and consumer confidence, may dampen travel demand in the near term. However, low fuel prices should support airlines' profitability. The outlook for Changi is also bolstered by positive developments such as the addition of new city links and airlines in the coming months. These include Singapore Airlines' new services to Dusseldorf, Canberra and Wellington in the second half of this year, as well as the arrival of Fiji Airways' new direct service from Nadi in April.  

"Closer to our hub, Asia continues to present exciting growth opportunities, with untapped tourism potential in many parts of the continent, and growing affluence in the emerging economies driving air travel. Here, Changi Airport is well placed to capture future growth with our expanding network, including many secondary cities, to key markets like China, India and Indonesia. We will continue to work closely with our airline partners to establish new connections to develop the Singapore air hub and better serve our passengers."

Passenger, airfreight and aircraft movement statistics for 2015

   
    Month        Passenger traffic      Airfreight movements     Aircraft movements
                                                                             Change
                Number     Change %      Tonnes     Change %     Number         %
    January    4,420,122     (3.8)      151,814        1.0       28,779       (5.2)
    February   4,121,357      0.3       135,965        7.3       26,491       (1.0)
    March      4,535,119      0.9       162,660       (4.2)      28,793       (1.2)
    April      4,391,381      0.2       153,448        1.6       28,256       (0.4)
    May        4,480,261      2.6       157,046       (0.3)      29,042        0.4
    June       4,699,589      1.0       151,304       (2.2)      28,531        1.4
    July       4,893,574      6.8       147,527       (4.8)      29,412        4.3
    August     4,955,301      6.6       151,647       (2.8)      29,606        4.4
    September  4,421,554      3.9       155,058        4.9       28,464        5.3
    October    4,600,789      2.5       162,495        1.8       29,610        4.3
    November   4,636,752      5.0       160,482        2.5       28,729        2.5
    December   5,293,165      3.9       163,639        3.2       30,621        3.1
    TOTAL     55,448,964      2.5      1,853,087       0.5       346,334       1.4

About Changi Airport Group: 

Changi Airport Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd (CAG) (http://www.changiairportgroup.com ) was formed on 16 June 2009 and the corporatisation of Singapore Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS) followed on 1 July 2009. As the company managing Changi Airport, CAG undertakes key functions focusing on airport operations and management, air hub development, commercial activities and airport emergency services. CAG also manages Seletar Airport (IATA: XSP, ICAO: WSSL) and through its subsidiary Changi Airports International, invests in and manages foreign airports.

Changi Airport is the world's seventh busiest airport for international traffic. It served a record 55.4 million passengers from around the globe in 2015. More than 350 retail stores and 160 F&B outlets are situated across three terminals to cater to passengers and visitors. With over 100 airlines providing connectivity to 320 cities worldwide, Changi Airport handles about 6,800 flights every week, or about one every 90 seconds.

For more information, please contact:
Tanvi Lehru, Account Associate
+91-9821249918
[email protected]