Changi Airport air freight volume rises 4pc in January

SINGAPORE's Changi Airport handled 147,000 tonnes of air freight in January 2011, an increase of four per cent compared to the same month last year. The result marks the 16th straight month of growth, according to the airport operator.


Changi Airport also registered 3.79 million passenger movements in January, up 11.9 per cent year on year.


During 2010, the facility served a record 42 million passengers, 13 per cent more than the previous year. Airport authorities said in a statement, passenger traffic at Changi has risen by a compounded annual growth rate of 3.9 per cent from 2000 to 2010.


They said the growth in passenger traffic in January was in line with an 11.6 per cent increase in aircraft movements to 24,000 flights.


During the month, Air Macau and Hong Kong Airlines launched operations at Changi Airport with twice-weekly passenger services to Macau and daily services to Hong Kong, respectively. In addition, China Eastern Airlines commenced twice-weekly services to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi province in southern China, and a new city link on Changi's network.


Low-cost carriers (LCC) were said to have continued driving growth to and from North East Asia and South East Asia, with traffic for these regions recording double-digit growth as airlines such as Tiger Airways, AirAsia and Cebu Pacific raised frequencies to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Manila, respectively.


Traffic growth to and from Russia was also described as "strong" as Transaero Airlines began operations to Moscow, while Singapore Airlines had raised frequency in the sector in the last quarter of 2010.


"Traffic on LCCs grew 27 per cent compared to a year ago. About one in four passengers who passed through Changi were carried on an LCC. Traffic on full service carriers grew eight per cent, registering 2.9 million passenger movements," the statement said.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)