7.5% drop from last year due mainly to H1N1 flu, recession
By
Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent
The one bright spark for the airport is the growth of the low-cost carrier segment. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
PASSENGER traffic through Changi Airport for the first half of the year tumbled to 17.3 million passengers, a 7.5 per cent drop compared to the same period last year, due largely to the global recession and the H1N1 flu outbreak. The only time when the airport registered a bigger fall in traffic was in 2003, when another health scare, Sars, emptied planes.
The one bright spark for the airport is the growth of the low-cost carrier segment. With travellers downgrading and opting for cheaper vacations within the region, Jetstar Asia, Tiger Airways and AirAsia are all reporting a roaring trade.
But while the growth in the low-cost segment is encouraging, Changi's future is closely tied to that of SIA which accounts for about half the airport's traffic. Standard & Poor's Equity Research said in a report on Friday: 'A major challenge for SIA, in our view, is to convince the world's major banks and Fortune 500 firms to start pampering their executives with the allure and ambience that only a Singapore Girl in Raffles Class could offer.'
Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
