Changi Airport handles 4.49m passengers in March

Thailand's political instability and fewer Chinese tourists visiting South-east Asia in the wake of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 a month and a half ago were some reasons for the traffic dip.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the press release from Changi Airport:

Singapore Changi Airport managed 4.49 million passenger movements in March 2014, 2.5 per cent lower than a year before. There were 29,100 landings and take-offs at Changi last month, a 2.5 per cent increase compared to March 2013.

Socio-political factors continued to weigh down on travel demand on some routes while a reduction in long-haul capacity, especially to the United States, has also impacted passenger movements. Thailand traffic decreased for the fifth consecutive month, with traffic to and from Bangkok declining by 29 per cent on-year in March.

In the first quarter of this year, 13.2 million passengers travelled through Changi Airport, 1.1 per cent more than the corresponding period in 2013. Total flight movements for the first three months of 2014 grew 4.5 per cent to 86,300. In January, Changi Airport welcomed new airline Lucky Air, adding a new city link - Guiyang in China - to its network.

On the cargo front[1], 169,800 tonnes of airfreight shipments were processed last month, a slight decline of 1.3 per cent on-year. Cargo shipments were stable at 446,900 tonnes for the first three months of 2014.

As at 1 April 2014, more than 100 airlines operate at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to 280 cities in some 60 countries and territories worldwide. With more than 6,800 weekly scheduled flights, an aircraft takes off or lands at Changi roughly once every 90 seconds.