Minister for Transport S Iswaran provided an update in Parliament on Monday (Oct 3) concerning the air transport industry in the wake of Singapore’s reopening after the Covid-19 pandemic, in answer to questions posed by Members of Parliament.
The industry is a significant contributor to the country’s economy, given that Changi Airport is a major transport hub in the region. Previous to the pandemic, the airport brought in around S$3 billion from 2019-2020’s number. This amount fell below S$700 million the following year, however, according to data from Statista.
But with the country’s reopening to fully-vaccinated travellers without testing or quarantine in April of this year, Mr Isawaran said that air travel has been recovering steadily.
Last month, the average weekly passenger traffic at Changi Airport had recovered to more than 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, he added, and the number of flights had recovered to almost two-thirds of pre-Covid levels.
The number of flights from various international airlines has also been on the increase, and announcements from Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan regarding the easing of borders will mean an even further increase.
He also announced that Terminal 4 was reopened on Sept 13 and that departure operations in the southern wing of Terminal 2 will begin by Oct 11.
“With this, Changi Airport will have the physical capacity to accommodate up to 100 per cent of pre-COVID-19 passenger traffic levels, or about 70 million passengers per annum.
This represents about 80 per cent of Changi’s pre-COVID-19 capacity,” he added.
Because of this, there has been a need for industry stakeholders to build up the workforce as well as begin training new staff.
And while the sector’s workforce has recovered to around 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the first half of 2022, stakeholders are targeting hiring another 4,000 workers from September until the year ends.
“Thanks to the efforts of the whole aviation community, including our regulator, airport operator, airlines, ground handling companies, unions, and workers, Changi has managed the recovery relatively well so far.
By continuing to work together as one Changi community, I am confident that Changi Airport will be ready to welcome more passengers back to Singapore, and offer them the distinctive traveller experience that Changi is renowned for,” he added. /TISG