2022 year in review: Changi Airport finishes top of Asia-Pacific as it recovers slower than expected

The word summing up aviation in Singapore in 2022 is, without a doubt, recovery, with Changi Airport finishing the year top of the Asia-Pacific. As at mid-December, its weekly passenger numbers had reached 75% of those pre-Covid-19, a day-and-night comparison with March’s 18% when borders here and in the region had yet to open. All four of Changi Airport’s terminals are now also reopened and processing steady streams of passengers. The high-profile reopening of Terminal 4 in September and the southern wing of Terminal 2 in October has returned the airport’s handling capacity to 70 million people a year, in time for the year-end holidays.Adding to the positive indicators is Changi’s connectivity, now at 82 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. As at December, 95 airlines were scheduling flights from Changi Airport to 140 cities, including four new places that passengers three years ago could not book flights to – Noumea in New Caledonia, Jeju in South Korea, Pune in India and Sibu in Malaysia. Amid a tentative recovery, eight new airlines have also been added to the airport’s roster, including Aircalin, Cambodia Airways and Thai Vietjet Air. These various indices of passenger numbers, operating capacity and connectivity all point towards Changi Airport’s restoration of its position as Asia’s air hub, exceeding the 50 per cent year-end passenger traffic that at one point seemed a stretch.<br/>