Singapore on track to restoring 50% of pre-COVID passenger volume by this year
Aviation sector ramping up operations to support higher traveller volumes
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) revealed on Monday (Apr 18) that after the reopening of Singapore’s borders to all fully vaccinated travellers from 1 April 2022, air passenger traffic in Singapore reached 400,000 or 31% of pre-COVID levels in the week ending 17 April 2022, up from 18% a month ago.
The increase in air passenger traffic was broad-based. Traffic volume increased for all major markets, with particularly strong growth for traffic to and from Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Direct traffic increased for both international and local travellers, with Singapore citizens and permanent residents making up 32% of total direct traffic.
The number of passenger flights also increased to 38% of pre-COVID levels in the week ending 17 April 2022, from 29% a month ago. The frequency of flights to and from Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam increased significantly. Three airlines, namely Air New Zealand, Myanmar Airways International, and PT. Batik Air Indonesia, restarted scheduled passenger flights to Singapore. Air links were also re-established with five new cities, namely Cairns, Da Nang, Kota Kinabalu, Madurai, and Riyadh.
CAAS further added that it’s working with the aviation community to ramp up operations and manpower to meet demand as air travel recovers in 2022 and to rebuild and reclaim Singapore’s position as a premier air hub.
Mr Han Kok Juan, Director-General of the CAAS, said, “It has been just two weeks since we reopened our borders more broadly. We are seeing good air travel recovery and expect numbers to further increase, especially in the upcoming May Day-Hari Raya Puasa long weekend and the June school holiday season. The CAAS is working with the airport operator, aviation companies and unions to ramp up operations and manpower to support the higher traveller volumes. We also advise travellers to come to the airport early and to cater more time for departure check-in and arrival baggage collection.”
