Singapore Changi Airport handled 58.9 million passenger movements in 2023, representing 86% of the traffic recorded in 2019.
Aircraft movements, which include landings and take-offs, totalled 328,000, as compared to 382,000 in 2019.
For Q4 from October to December 2023, passenger traffic at Changi crossed 90% recovery with 16.1 million passenger movements recorded. December 2023 was the busiest month in the year for Changi, registering 5.8 million passenger movements, or 91% of traffic in December 2019. The busiest day of the year was 22 December 2023 – the Friday before Christmas – where 203,000 passengers passed through Changi’s terminals. Aircraft movements for the month totalled 30,400, reaching 91% of 2019 levels.
Traffic recovery
Compared against pre-Covid passenger traffic, the North America region posted the strongest growth in 2023, exceeding 2019 levels by more than 25%, while Europe, Southwest Pacific and South Asia are close to full recovery, registering over 90% of 2019 traffic.
Throughout the year, all regions continued to register strong recovery. Northeast Asia was the forerunner, with passenger traffic increasing more than four times that of 2022, largely due to a significant increase in travel between China and Singapore. Southeast Asia posted the second strongest growth during the year, registering a 72% year-on-year growth.
Changi Airport’s top five passenger markets for the year were Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand and India. Among Changi’s top 10 markets, China, Japan and South Korea were the fastest growing compared to 2022.
With the easing of travel restrictions, China regained its spot in Changi’s top 10 markets, closing the year at No. 6 with close to four million passenger movements. Passenger traffic between Japan and Singapore tripled compared to 2022, while South Korea traffic exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 36%, making it the market with the strongest rebound compared to pre-Covid traffic.
Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Denpasar (Bali) and Manila were Changi Airport’s busiest routes during the year with the Kuala Lumpur route being the world’s busiest international route based on seat capacity.
Enhancing Connectivity
In 2023, Changi Airport welcomed three new passenger airlines into the Changi family – Air Macau, Firefly and TransNusa – and added two new passenger city links to its network – Bhubaneswar (India) and Sanya (China).
Changi Airport also resumed connections to more than 10 cities this year, including Addis Ababa, Changsha, Ningbo, Kaohsiung, and Okinawa. Ninety percent of pre-Covid city links have resumed to date. According to OAG’s latest data, Changi Airport is now the 5th busiest airport in the world by seat capacity.
Changi Airport also established its first link to Beijing Daxing Airport via China Eastern Airlines. Through a three-year partnership between Singapore Tourism Board, TUI Airways and Marella Cruises, Changi Airport will welcome fly-cruise passengers from the United Kingdom to Singapore between December to April each season, for three years till 2026. TUI Airways operates 3x weekly services from London-Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham.
During the year, Air Canada announced its return to Changi Airport after more than 30 years, and will commence its 4x weekly non-stop Vancouver-Singapore service in April 2024. Singapore Airlines will also launch new passenger services to Brussels and London Gatwick, commencing in April and June 2024 respectively.
As of January 2024, 93 airlines operate over 6,700 weekly scheduled flights at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to 154 cities in 49 countries and territories worldwide.
