Report: Changi Airport plans, building before they come

In this report we analyse the profile of current traffic and draw on OAG data to understand how traffic at Changi Airport might be expected to grow over the next 5 to 10 years in order to understand where future growth will come from…

Singapore Changi Airport plans for doubling capacity

Yet again passengers have voted Singapore Changi Airport the World’s Best Airport, according to the 2016 SkyTrax awards. The airport has a well-earned reputation for making the passenger experience as good as it can and it’s no surprise that passengers whose travel plans require a connection have been choosing to connect at Changi for years.

Part of the success comes down to good planning. Singapore Airport has a track record of planning for future needs, building ahead of the demand curve and delivering a quality product for passengers and airlines. Passenger numbers have climbed to 54 million passengers per annum (mppa) while terminal capacity is comfortably ahead of that at 66 mppa.

However in recent years, Singapore’s position as the long-haul connecting airport of choice has been challenged by rival hubs, in particular Dubai, and more recently Istanbul. Upon completion, Dubai’s World Central Airport will be able to handle up to 240m passengers and the new Istanbul Airport will have capacity for 150m when it opens in 2018. So, as Changi announces plans to build capacity to allow it to handle 135m passengers annually, more than double the number passing through the airport today, we take a closer look at where this traffic might come from. While no-one expects Changi to develop infrastructure on the basis of ‘build it and they will come’, the case for a doubling of traffic seems less certain than it might have done a few years ago.

In this report we analyse the profile of current traffic and draw on OAG data to understand how traffic might be expected to grow over the next 5 to 10 years in order to understand where future growth will come from.