Changi Airport registers 7% increase in cargo volume between May '16 and April '17

May 29, 2017: Singapore Changi Airport has set a new record for handling more than two million tonnes of airfreight in the last 12 months ending April 2017. This is an increase of 7 percent in volumes. While in the month of April ’17 alone, the cargo shipments grew 4.4 percent to reach 171,720 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.

Growth registered across all segments – imports, exports and transhipment. Changi’s key airfreight segments include aerospace parts, perishables, pharmaceuticals, and e-commerce cargo. In January 2017, Changi Airport became the first air cargo community in Asia Pacific to establish an end-to-end supply chain that meets the IATA CEIV Pharma[1] standards, ensuring a high handling standard of pharmaceutical cargo passing through the airport.

In passenger segment, the Changi Airport handled 5.17 million in April, a 7.8 percent year-on-year increase. Aircraft movements were 3.8 percent higher at 30,570 landings and takeoffs, while cargo shipments grew 4.4 percent to reach 171,720 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.

Passenger traffic for the month of April was boosted by growth across all regions except the Middle East. Nine out of Changi’s top 20 country markets registered double-digit growth, including India (16 percent), Indonesia (16 percent) and Malaysia (11 percent).

In addition to this, in April 2017, Changi Airport registered its one billionth passenger since its opening on 1 July 1981. Since then, three terminals have opened – Terminal 1 (in 1981), Terminal 2 (in 1990) and Terminal 3 (in 2008), while Terminal 4 will open in the second half of this year. Changi Airport’s passenger traffic has risen steadily on an annual basis – it handled over 20 million passengers per annum (mppa) in 1994, 30 mppa in 2004, 40 mppa in 2010, 50 mppa in 2012 and is on track to achieve 60 mppa in 2017. The Singapore air hub has also grown with the rise in passenger traffic – in 1981, 34 airlines operated to 67 cities; today, about 120 airlines link Singapore to more than 380 cities globally.

VietJet has launched a new daily service to Hanoi. Currently, seven carriers connect Singapore to three cities (Da Nang, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam.