Singapore: Changi Airport registers first net loss amid dip in passenger numbers owing to Covid-19

Changi Airport sunk into the red for the first time in the financial year ended March 31, with only 1.1m passengers passing through its gates as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on air travel. It represented a 98% drop in passenger traffic from the previous year. The net loss attributable to shareholder was $954m, down from the $435m profit in financial year 2019/20. The number of planes passing through the airport fell by 80% in the same period, and concession sales plunged by almost 90%. The figures were reported in Changi Airport Group's (CAG) latest annual report released on Monday. CAG chairman Tan Gee Paw and CE Lee Seow Hiang said in a joint message that FY2020/2021 has been the most difficult year in Changi Airport's history. They said that hopes of travel recovery have been dampened by ongoing closure of borders, and that CAG has been especially hard hit due to the absence of a domestic air travel market in Singapore. The group said the $954m net loss registered was driven by the weaker performance due to the pandemic as well as non-cash impairment, depreciation and amortisation charges. It added that revenue from airport services, airport concessions and rental income all fell significantly, resulting in its overall revenue declining by 78% to $697m. But cargo demand has remained strong as countries sought to restore supply chains, CAG said.<br/>