Singapore Changi Airport has reported that 4.54m passengers used the airport in March 2015, a 0.9% rise against the same month in 2014, while first quarter numbers hit 13.1m – 0.9% below the corresponding period in the previous year.

The Changi Airport Group (CAG) reports that aircraft movements in March were 1.2% down with 28,800 landings and take-offs, while cargo movements fell 4.2% to 162,700 tonnes.

The good news was that traffic to and from the Southwest Pacific and South Asian areas grew by 8% and 4.9% respectively, while traffic to and from Thailand grew by 20%, with Bangkok traffic in particular recording a 30% rise and China-bound traffic up by ‘an encouraging 3.4%’.

In the first quarter, aircraft movements fell by 2.5% to 84,060, although air freight movements rose by a nominal 0.8% to reach 450,400 tonnes. Overall, CAG added that traffic was ‘weaker across most regions’, although the South Asia Pacific region stood out in the quarter with a 4.7% increase.

 

 

NEW RETAIL DEVELOPMENTS
In terms of new shops, the CAG reports a number of new openings over the last month, including several fashion, lifestyle and sports brands in the T2 transit area, including adidas, Lacoste, Avenue Kids and Montblanc.

Bratpack has also opened its first transit store at T3, offering casual bags and accessories, while last-minute gift options are also now available at the newly opened So Chocolate (T2) and Cocoa Trees (T3) outlets in the airport.

While growth has clearly slowed at Changi – as CAG predicted it would – there are still many positives and these include a good start to the Northern Summer 2015 season in terms of new services.

These include Oman Air’s daily Muscat – Singapore – Kuala Lumpur service, which commenced on 29 March. This now adds Muscat as a new city link for Changi, with this service replacing the previous Muscat – Kuala Lumpur point-to-point non-stop service.

Xiamen Airlines is also now offering daily non-stop services to Fuzhou and Hangzhou, replacing its previous daily Hangzhou-Fuzhou-Singapore service. Xiamen Airlines now offers four daily flights to seven Chinese cities. The Singapore – Hangzhou service continues to Xi’an, making Xiamen Airlines the second carrier to offer flights from Singapore to Xi’an.

 

MORE F&B OFFERINGS
In addition, Tigerair has also commenced flights to the Chinese cities of Guilin and Nanning, serving these cities once and three times weekly respectively. Plus, Lao Airlines has expanded its Vientiane service to operate onwards to Luang Prabang, a new city link for Changi Airport. The Singapore – Vientiane – Luang Prabang service operates thrice weekly.

Meanwhile, the F&B offering has also been expanded with Italian café company Culto Caffe making its Singaporean debut in the T1 transit area, while Dunkin Donuts and Hong Kong Sheng Kee Desserts have opened new outlets in the T3 transit area.

In addition the ‘famed’ ramen chain Ippudo has also opened its very first airport outlet called Ippudo Express, which features dip sandwiches – in addition to its signature ramen – and thirsty passengers can also visit the new Carlsberg Sports Bar.

This news comes on the back of the most significant announcement by Changi – or any other major Asian Airport in the last month – to substantially reduce its aeronautical charges to airlines, ground handling agents and passengers – see story here: http://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/asia-pacific/changi-slashes-airline-and-pax-fees-to-gain-on-rivals/75885