THE recovery of Singapore's Changi's aviation hub remains a work in progress with cargo traffic recovered to near pre-Covid crisis levels, reports the Singapore's Strait Times.
Passenger flights to 70 cities are now available, up from a low of 24 in mid-April last year at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, the number is less than half the 160 cities before the pandemic.
Daniel Ng, director of air transport at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, disclosed the figures in response to media queries.
Changi is now connected by cargo flights to 73 cities, with the throughput in April at 92 per cent of the levels before the pandemic.
Joshua Ng, director of Alton Aviation Consultancy, said: 'While traffic has declined significantly, Singapore has been able to maintain hub connectivity, as measured by the number of unique routes to and from the airport.'This is as compared with other peer Asia-Pacific airports that are highly dependent on international traffic, but it has performed less well against Middle Eastern peers using the same measures,' he said
Mr Ng also cited data from OAG Aviation, a flight data and analytics provider. The data, which compares airport hubs and unique passenger destinations, showed that Singapore's passenger flight links currently exceed that of Hong Kong (56) and Taipei (45).
James Jordan, a senior associate who specialises in aviation issues at international law firm HFW, said the recovery of cargo traffic at Changi is encouraging. But he noted that it is weaker than the 12 per cent growth in global air cargo demand.
'The risk is that Singapore loses its competitive advantage that it has enjoyed, and other airlines and airports try to make a play for its market share,' he said.
'From the government's perspective, it may need to decide whether to accept a little bit of risk to facilitate the aviation industry's recovery, because the economic benefits of having Singapore well-connected to the world are significant,' said Mr Jordan.
SeaNews Turkey
Passenger flights to 70 cities are now available, up from a low of 24 in mid-April last year at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, the number is less than half the 160 cities before the pandemic.
Daniel Ng, director of air transport at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, disclosed the figures in response to media queries.
Changi is now connected by cargo flights to 73 cities, with the throughput in April at 92 per cent of the levels before the pandemic.
Joshua Ng, director of Alton Aviation Consultancy, said: 'While traffic has declined significantly, Singapore has been able to maintain hub connectivity, as measured by the number of unique routes to and from the airport.'This is as compared with other peer Asia-Pacific airports that are highly dependent on international traffic, but it has performed less well against Middle Eastern peers using the same measures,' he said
Mr Ng also cited data from OAG Aviation, a flight data and analytics provider. The data, which compares airport hubs and unique passenger destinations, showed that Singapore's passenger flight links currently exceed that of Hong Kong (56) and Taipei (45).
James Jordan, a senior associate who specialises in aviation issues at international law firm HFW, said the recovery of cargo traffic at Changi is encouraging. But he noted that it is weaker than the 12 per cent growth in global air cargo demand.
'The risk is that Singapore loses its competitive advantage that it has enjoyed, and other airlines and airports try to make a play for its market share,' he said.
'From the government's perspective, it may need to decide whether to accept a little bit of risk to facilitate the aviation industry's recovery, because the economic benefits of having Singapore well-connected to the world are significant,' said Mr Jordan.
SeaNews Turkey