SINGAPORE - Changi Airport has cut charges for selected travellers, airlines and other partners amid intense competition from rivals in the region, including airports in Hong Kong and the Middle East.
The perks include lower passenger service fees for transit travellers, discounted landing fees for large aircraft and rebates for flight catering and other ground handling services.
Existing rebates on landing fees for long-haul flights, aircraft parking and aerobridge charges will also be extended, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said on Friday.
Airlines and ground handlers will also receive support to encourage them to boost productivity.
The airport's chief executive officer, Lee Seow Hiang, said: "Changi Airport's success is very much dependant on the contributions of our airport partners, including airlines and ground handlers. Notwithstanding lower fuel prices, the operating environment in the near-term remains challenging for the region's airline industry. Likewise, there are also tough conditions for our ground handlers. They face severe manpower constraints which may affect their ability to maintain the high level of service and efficiency expected by airlines and their passengers."
The incentives - being offered at a potential cost of $180 million - is a demonstration of the airport's continued commitment and support to its partners "as we work with them to achieve success and growth of their operations at Changi Airport" he said.
The perks are:
- Cut in transfer/transit passenger service charge from $9 to $3 from July 1.
- Extension of 50 per cent landing fee rebate for direct, long-haul passenger flights of more than nine hours, to Europe for example. The discount which was due to expire on March 31, next year, will be extended by a year.
- Decrease in landing fees of up to 5 per cent for large aircraft (weighing over 360 tonnes) like the Airbus 380, from May 1.
- Extension of landing fee rebate for all scheduled all-cargo flights. Airlines will enjoy a 50 per cent discount for the next six months and a 30 per cent rebate for another six months until March 31, next year.
- Extension of 50 per cent aircraft parking fee rebate and a 15 per cent discount on aerobridge charges until the end of March, 2017. The discounts were due to expire at the end of this June.
- Ground handlers like Sats and Dnata will enjoy a 20 per cent rebate on flight catering franchise fees and a similar discount for ground-handling fees from next month until the end of March, 2017. The fees are paid monthly.
- Ground handlers will also receive support to raise service and efficiency standards, and to support productivity initiatives over the next two years, in view of a manpower shortage.
