Changi to move 8 million more passengers by 2014

Last year 42 million flew through the airport, is it time for a new terminal?

The company said passenger traffic at Changi Airport is expected to exceed 50 million by 2014 from 42 million last year, according to the Changi Airport Group.

Passenger movement grew from 30 million to 42 million in the six years from 2004 to last year and Changi Airport is ranked the seventh busiest airport for international traffic.

Heading the list are London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Hong Kong International Airport, Dubai International Airport, Frankfurt Airport and Amsterdam Schipol.

The announcement was made at a news conference yesterday to announce the airport's targets and how it intends to attain them. The group said it is looking at four ways to achieve the 50-million passenger target.
One is to continue to enhance the Changi experience for passengers.

For example, the iChangi application was launched last year to allow users to obtain the latest flight updates on the go.

It also aims to leverage on new tourism products such as the Gardens by the Bay and the Singapore International Cruise Terminal.

Discussions with various airline partners - both foreign and Singapore-based carriers - are also underway.
For example, after trade shows were carried out to promote traffic flow between Singapore and Turkey in both directions, Turkish Airlines increased its services from five to seven weekly.

With the significant growth of low- cost carriers, the group said "it won't come as a surprise" if it would make up about 30 to 35 per cent of the total market share in the next five years.

Currently, low-cost carriers (LCCs) account for about 22 per cent of passenger traffic at Changi Airport. But the group said the target will be reconsidered if faced with various challenges such as increasing fuel prices and natural disasters. Other challenges include geopolitical shocks and the weak global economic environment.

The group also hopes to strengthen its global network by collaborating with key partners.

The Air Hub Development executive vice-president, Mr Yam Kum Weng, said: "The pace that we're looking at for growth is stronger than our historical average. We will strengthen our connectivity to points in China and India, in particular the secondary cities where there's a lot of potential for growth. And also to long haul markets like Europe, United States and Russia."