Singapore Changi Airport handled 32.2 million passenger movements in 2022, reaching almost half of the traffic in 2019, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Aircraft movements, which include landings and takeoffs, totaled 219,000, 57.2% of 2019 levels.
Air freight consumption has registered 1.85 million tons for 2022, a year-on-year decline of 4.8%.
In 2022, all regions registered strong recovery in passenger traffic, with North America even slightly exceeding pre-Covid levels on a full-year basis, and Southwest Pacific, South Asia, and Europe each reaching two-thirds of 2019 traffic.
Closer to home, Southeast Asia also saw a robust pickup in traffic following the opening of the region, ending the year with a new peak of two million passenger movements in December 2022, representing over three quarters of December 2019 traffic.
Changi Airport’s top five passenger markets for the year were, in order, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Thailand. Similar to 2019, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta were the three busiest routes from Changi Airport in 2022.
The Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route is currently the busiest international route in the world based on seat capacity.
On the freight front, cargo flows fell 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.
Heaviest traffic in December
Passenger traffic continued to grow through the year 2022, reaching a peak in December with 4.62 million passenger movements recorded.
This was 72% of Changi Airport traffic in December 2019. The busiest week of the year (12 to 18 December) saw more than 1.07 million passengers pass through Changi’s terminal, or 82% of the weekly average in 2019.
For the month, aircraft movements registered 25,400, reaching 76% of pre-Covid levels. Air freight consumption, compared to December 2021, fell 17.3% to 153,000 tons.
Among Changi’s top 10 markets, South Korea saw passenger traffic grow above pre-Covid levels in December 2022, driven in part by additional capacity from Changi’s airline partners, including new airlines T’way Air and Air Premia on the Singapore-Seoul route route, and Scoot runs the new Singapore-Jeju route.
Mr Lim Ching Kiat, Executive Vice President of Air Hub and Cargo Development, Changi Airport Group (CAG), said“Over the past two years, we have strengthened our airport offering and continued to engage our airline partners in anticipation of the travel revival.
“The efforts of the Changi Airport community have paid off – the airport now leads the Asia Pacific region in travel recovery.
“The reopening of Terminals 2 and 4 has helped restore the airport’s capacity to handle strong travel demand.
“We look forward to welcoming more flights in the coming months, for example, Ethiopian Airlines will start flights from Addis Ababa in March. Despite short-term challenges such as global economic uncertainty and inflationary pressure, we are confident that we will be able to maintain connectivity and traffic of Changi Airport to progressively restore to pre-Covid levels.
Improved connectivity
In 2022, Changi Airport welcomed eight new airlines. Of these, there are seven passenger airlines – Aircalin, Bamboo Airways, Cambodia Airways, Citilink, HK Express, Thai Vietjet Air and T’way Air – and one cargo operator Atlas Air.
Four new passenger city connections were established for the year – Jeju (South Korea), Nouméa (New Caledonia), Pune (India) and Sibu (Malaysia).
As of the first week of January 2023, 96 airlines operate over 5,600 weekly scheduled flights at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to 143 cities in 48 countries and territories worldwide. This is 82% of Changi’s pre-Covid connectivity.
Changi Airport passenger, aircraft and air cargo movements for 2022
| month | Passenger traffic | Aircraft movements | Air freight throughput | |||
| Number[5] (one thousand) | recovery[6] (%) | number (thousand) | recovery5 (%) | tons (thousand) | Change[7] (%) | |
| January | 720 | 12.7 | 12.1 | 37.2 | 169 | 16.1 |
| February | 703 | 13.7 | 10.9 | 36.3 | 137 | 10.4 |
| March | 1,140 | 20.3 | 13.2 | 40.7 | 152 | -3.4 |
| April | 1,930 | 34.6 | 15.1 | 47.9 | 152 | -1.8 |
| May | 2,470 | 45.6 | 17.1 | 54.0 | 153 | -3.9 |
| June | 2,930 | 50.3 | 18.4 | 58.6 | 163 | 1.5 |
| July | 3,300 | 55.8 | 20.3 | 62.6 | 163 | -0.2 |
| August | 3,320 | 56.3 | 20.4 | 63.1 | 153 | -7.7 |
| September | 3,420 | 62.6 | 20.4 | 65.5 | 154 | -10.0 |
| October | 3,690 | 65.3 | 21.8 | 68.2 | 152 | -16.3 |
| November | 3,960 | 69.3 | 23.7 | 74.8 | 151 | -15.0 |
| December | 4,620 | 72.0 | 25.4 | 76.0 | 153 | -17.0 |
| Total | 32,200 | 47.2 | 219 | 57.2 | 1,850 | -4.8 |
[5] Rounded to 3 significant figures
[6] Compared to 2019
[7] Compared to 2021
Top 10 passenger markets for Changi Airport[8]
| 2022 | 2019 | |
| 1 | Australia | Indonesia |
| 2 | Malaysia | China |
| 3 | Indonesia | Malaysia |
| 4 | India | Australia |
| 5 | Thailand | Thailand |
| 6 | Philippines | India |
| 7 | Vietnam | Japan |
| 8 | United Kingdom | Philippines |
| 9 | Korea | Hong Kong |
| 10 | Japan | Vietnam |
Top 10 city routes for Changi Airport7
| 2022 | 2019 | |
| 1 | Kuala Lumpur | Kuala Lumpur |
| 2 | Bangkok | Bangkok |
| 3 | Jakarta | Jakarta |
| 4 | Manila | Hong Kong |
| 5 | Sydney | Denpasar |
| 6 | Denpasar | Manila |
| 7 | Melbourne | Tokyo |
| 8 | Ho Chi Minh City | Taipei |
| 9 | Seoul | Ho Chi Minh City |
| 10 | London | Sydney |
[8] By passenger traffic
