SINGAPORE: Changi Airport will ramp up efforts to establish direct flights to new destinations over the next decade as it prepares for the completion of Terminal 5 (T5) by the mid-2030s.
Among the potential new destinations are Banda Aceh and Banjarmasin in Indonesia, Hai Phong and Da Lat in Vietnam, Almaty in Kazakhstan, and Tashkent in Uzbekistan.
Speaking during a media interview on July 13, Lim Ching Kiat, executive vice-president for air hub and cargo development at Changi Airport Group (CAG), said most of the new routes will be in the Asia-Pacific, which is expected to account for the bulk of passenger traffic over the next decade.
Describing these underserved cities as “white spots” with little air connectivity to Singapore, Lim said they could generate strong demand for leisure travel, business travel or both, particularly if they are provincial capitals with sizeable populations and significant spending power.
Urumqi and Hohhot in China, as well as Lucknow and Jaipur in India, are also among the possible destinations with which Changi Airport is working to establish direct flight connections.
At present, 85 per cent of flights operating at Changi Airport are to destinations in the Asia-Pacific.
Lim also identified Central and Eastern Europe as regions where the airport needs to “plant seeds” and “cultivate relationships”, noting that there are currently no direct flights between Singapore and many destinations in the two regions.
Beyond opening new routes, Changi Airport wants to increase flight frequencies to existing destinations.
These include Nadi in Fiji, which is currently served by two flights in each direction every week, and Paro in Bhutan, with three flights each way every week.
The airport also plans to increase the number of flights to Noumea in New Caledonia, currently served by two to three flights in each direction every week.
For such destinations, Lim said the airport hopes to increase flight frequencies gradually to daily services as a form of “steady equilibrium” so that travellers can enjoy greater convenience.
On Changi Airport’s projected growth in 2026, Lim said passenger traffic growth was “more muted” between April and June, following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in March.
In the first three months of 2026, there were 17.6 million passengers, a 2.3 per cent increase from the same period in 2025, even as travel between Singapore and the Middle East declined because of the Iran war.
However, in April, there were 5.73 million passengers, a 0.9 per cent decrease from the same month in 2025. In May, the airport handled 5.68 million passengers, down 2.4 per cent from the same month in 2025.
Lim said it was “too early to tell how things will pan out” for the rest of the year, but added that the airport would work towards achieving stronger passenger traffic growth than in 2025.
Fuel prices around the world have spiked since the outbreak of the Iran war amid disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas supplies.
Lim said it was difficult for airports or governments to cover the higher fuel costs, but Changi Airport was working with airlines to reduce other operating expenses, such as by shortening aircraft turnaround times.
He added that the airport also supports airlines in securing suitable flight slots and jointly marketing new services.
Recounting lessons from the Middle East conflict, Lim said Changi Airport had realised the importance of diversifying its traffic sources, passenger flows and airline partnerships across different regions.
For instance, Ethiopian Airlines flights between Singapore and Europe via Addis Ababa, and Turkish Airlines flights from the city-state to Europe via Istanbul, provided alternative routes when airspace in the Middle East was closed.
The new T5 will be completed in the mid-2030s, allowing Changi Airport to serve 140 million passengers annually – more than 55 per cent above its present capacity of 90 million.
Together with the wider Changi East development, T5 will nearly double the airport’s size.
Looking beyond the mid-2030s, Lim said that as more economic centres are developed in Africa, there will eventually be a need for more flight connections with the continent.
As an example of how fast-growing destinations can become important markets, he cited Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, which has seen strong demand for air travel among business, religious and leisure travellers. Changi Airport has been in discussions with several airlines to establish more connections to the city.
In the longer term, as ultra-long-haul flight technology improves beyond the 10-year timeframe, Lim believes Changi Airport should prioritise direct flights to more cities in the United States, including Boston and Chicago, as well as Toronto in Canada.
Following that, the airport could explore non-stop flight connections to cities in South America, he added.
Separately, layovers at Changi have become longer, with more than 50 per cent of transit passengers stopping over for at least three hours.
Lim attributed the trend to the maturing of travel patterns as more passengers travel to secondary and emerging cities served by less frequent flights.
He said the airport had been increasing the frequency of its free city tours for travellers with layovers of at least 5½ hours and adding new destinations to the tours.
On the airport’s efforts to expand its flight network, Lim said establishing a city link marked the start of a new phase rather than the end of the work.
“It is only the beginning of another milestone,” he said. “It’s like a garden. You’re never satisfied. You always want to make sure your plants grow very healthily.” - ST/ANN
