Four cities, including Bangkok, key to air passenger traffic at Singapore’s airport

Those four cities have not only topped Changi’s list for the past decade at least, but also featured among the 10 busiest international air routes worldwide last year.
All 10 are flights within the Asia-Pacific region, according to the list compiled by the International Air Transport Association.
Work and leisure are the main reasons regional visitors come to Singapore, among other purposes.
A Straits Times check with travellers and industry experts found that there were many Indonesians, for example, whose children study in Singapore. Many wealthy Indonesians also come to the city for medical and banking purposes. The Straits Times understands that some banks provide services within the restricted areas at Changi Airport so their premium customers do not even need to step outside.
For travel between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, about a third of passengers do so for business, while others come to Singapore mainly for leisure.
Those who fly to and from Bangkok and Singapore are mainly holidaymakers. Budget carrier AirAsia says Thai residents make |up about 40 per cent of its passengers on the Bangkok-Singapore route, and Singaporeans about 20 per cent. Chinese passengers make up just over 10 per cent of the total traffic, with the rest from other markets.
The proliferation of Asian budget airlines such as AirAsia, Jetstar and Tigerair has fuelled much of the growth in regional travel in the past few years, experts said.
The demand for flights is so strong that even those who fly full-service carriers such as Singapore Airlines sometimes end up on the waitlist.
Allison Lim, 45, managing director for Southeast Asia at a public relations firm, travels once or twice a month to Jakarta for work.
She said: “If I book a week or two in advance, there are no issues but if I ... book a day or two before, I often end up on the waitlist.”
Changi Airport Group spokesman Ivan Tan said the positive growth trend for the four markets was expected to continue in the medium to long term as Asia develops.
As Southeast Asian countries continue to liberalise air links, more regional carriers are also looking for opportunities in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta, he added. This could translate into more flight options for passengers, as well as opportunities for travellers to explore multi-destination itineraries within the region.
Changi also continues to work with the Singapore Tourism Board and other partners to grow different traffic segments, such as for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) industry and the fly-cruise segment, he said.
While Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong are the four largest markets for Changi and will likely remain so in the future, Centre for Aviation analyst Brendan Sobie expects the biggest growth to come from other routes.
“These four markets are relatively mature and are now suffering from overcapacity,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw some capacity reductions and consolidation in these markets.”
Secondary destinations in Southeast Asia, and especially in China, are likely to drive most of the future growth at Changi, he said.
“Changi should be increasing its focus on improving its connectivity within Asean and China rather than long-haul services, as the regional connections are an important USP [unique selling proposition] that differentiate Changi from competing hubs in other regions.”