Changi Airport handles 32.2 million passengers in 2022

The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route is the world’s busiest international route based on seat capacity.

Changi Airport handled 32.2 million passenger movements in 2022, almost half of the traffic in 2019 or before the COVID-19 pandemic happened, according to data released by the airport.

Over 219,000 aircraft movements– landings and takeoffs–took place in 2022, equal to 57.2% of 2019 levels.

Air Freight throughput registered 1.85 million tonnes for 2022, or 4.8% lower than in 2021.

Changi Airport’s top five passenger markets for the year were: Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Thailand. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta were Changi Airport’s three busiest routes in 2022.

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The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route is currently the world’s busiest international route based on seat capacity, the airport said.

By region, all registered strong recovery in passenger traffic, according to Changi Airport. North America even slightly exceeded pre-Covid levels on a full-year basis, and Southwest Pacific, South Asia, and Europe each reached two-thirds of 2019 traffic. 

Closer to home, Southeast Asia has also seen a robust pickup in traffic following the region’s reopening, closing out the year with a new high of two million passenger movements in December 2022, representing over three-quarters of December 2019 traffic.

Cargo flows dipped slightly against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty and inflationary pressures. Changi’s top five air cargo markets for the year were, in order, China, Australia, United States of America, Hong Kong and Japan.