The opening of a green lane between Singapore and China, and the resumption of transit flights have boosted passenger movements at Changi Airport last month, but the numbers are lower than the same period in 2019.
The data released by Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Monday (20 July) indicated the number of passenger movements – 48,200 – declined by 99.2 per cent than in the same period last year.
CAG is handling about 300 scheduled passenger flights per week this month, which is higher than the 170 scheduled passenger flights per week in April, as reported by The Straits Times today.
The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group also saw a decline in its passenger numbers with a total of 17,700 passengers in June. The numbers showed a 99.5 per cent drop compared to last year.
“Progress towards a global lifting of border controls and travel restrictions, which could facilitate or result in the easier movement of travellers between countries, is slower than earlier expected,” SIA noted.
“Consequently, for now, passenger traffic remains low,” it said, adding that 140 of its total fleet of about 200 planes have remained grounded.
SIA Group’s flights – SIA, SilkAir and Scoot – continue to gradually improve amid the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. SIA and SilkAir will operate about 546 passenger flights this month, compared with 308 in April. While Scoot will operate over 100 flights this month.
SIA said a task force will review its operations as part of its recovery plan after the pandemic.
“This task force is looking into every aspect of our operations, ensuring that the company is ready to step up and be ready when the recovery comes,” it noted.
Jetstar Asia, on the other hand, suspended most of its flights until the end of this month, except some of its flights to Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur. It will also remove five Airbus A320 aircraft from its fleet of 18 planes and cut 180 jobs in line with the reduced fleet.