Changi Airport handled 4.63 million passengers in March 2023 breaking through the 80% recovery barrier. This was the first month since pandemic that the airport managed to exceed 80% recovery, with 82.2% of the 5.63 million passengers that passed through the airport in March 2019.
During the pandemic, the airport recoded an all-time low passenger count of 3 million in 2021 as compared to 68.3 million in 2019.
The year 2022 recorded passenger footfalls of 32.2 million and this year the airport is on a positive recovery curve with a promising second half.
In the first three months of 2023, Singapore Changi handled 13 million passengers, compared to 16.4 million in the first quarter of 2019. This was four times as many as in Q1 last year and 79% of the same period in 2019, with the top traffic markets being Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The airport said that passenger flows to and from Greater China mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau also showed a strong recovery, with traffic doubling compared to the previous quarter.
Lim Ching Kiat, EVP, Air Hub and Cargo Development, Changi Airport said: “It is encouraging that passenger numbers at Changi Airport have crossed 80% of pre-COVID levels for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, representing a milestone in the recovery of Changi's traffic. As the world continues to gear up on travel, we look forward to more airlines resuming their services to cater to the growing appetite for travel, as well as bringing in new airlines to connect our passengers with more destinations in the coming months."
At the end of Q1, Changi Airports served 102 airlines operating more than 6,000 weekly scheduled flights, connecting Singapore to 145 cities in 49 countries and territories.