Host Airport Welcome | Changi Airport Group

Transcript

Ching Kiat Lim:Ladies and gentlemen, it's my privilege to welcome you to the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia 2025. I'm happy that this event is back here in Singapore at Capella. So we are gathering at a time of meaningful transition. So global air travel has not only recovered, to pre-pandemic level, it has also surpassed that and entering into a new normal. For Changi Airport, the financial year ending March 2025 marked our first full year of recovery in passenger traffic. The momentum has continued into this financial year, with Changi recording a 4% year-on-year growth for the first 6 months. We are now on track to reach 70 million passenger traffic movements soon. On the cargo front, volumes also grew 5% year-on-year. This achievement reflects the collective efforts of all our airline partners, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the strong support in helping Changi Airport recover and grow its traffic. Today, Changi is connected to over 160 cities worldwide with 6,500 scheduled flights. Per week. This is supported by a strong and balanced portfolio of both passenger and freighter services operated by nearly 100 airlines. Our network continues to grow. In recent months, we have welcomed new airline partners, among them JD Airlines, which launched Shenzhen-Singapore freighter services in September. And just yesterday, Turkish Airlines started its freighter service to Singapore. Working closely with the new and existing airline partners, we have gained 17 new city links over the past 12 months, including both short-haul and long-haul destinations. I am also pleased to share that MIAD Mongolian Airline will begin direct services between Singapore and Ulaanbaatar starting next week. So hope that this will give some of you new holiday ideas to visit Mongolia. Thank you. Looking at our top passenger markets in Q3, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, India are the top 5 markets, with China and Indonesia showing strong growth at 10% growth and 8% growth respectively. Our busiest city links were Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Denpasar, and Shanghai. Notably, the Singapore-Jakarta route saw double-digit growth, While Singapore-Shanghai followed closely with an 8% increase, reflecting strong demand across our key regions. These trends mirror the broader APAC momentum, where the Asia region and also specifically for ASEAN are seen as the higher-growing parts of global aviation. So according to IATA, Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than half of the global industry expansion this year. With passenger traffic forecast to grow 9% year-on-year. To support the strong growth, Changi Airport is working closely with industry partners and investing in innovation, capacity, and operational excellence. A key milestone this year has been the passport-free immigration clearance system introduced by Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for overseas guests. I hope you have a chance to experience this in the last couple of days when you come into Singapore. Another exciting project that the airport is embarking with our partners is using the power of smart and predictive technology. We call this project Aircraft 360. It's a project looking at seeing how we can improve the aircraft turnaround at our gates. This will help airlines improve their asset utilisation and also help us get better efficiency from our infrastructure. Thank you. It uses computer vision and AI to monitor aircraft turnaround activities, predict potential delays in flight departures, and with full visibility on the ground situation, resources can be deployed promptly to mitigate any delays through effective collaboration and decision-making collectively by airport partners and stakeholders. These innovations are not only to strengthen the safety, speed, and efficiency of Changi's operations today, but also lay the foundation for the next generation of our airport system. As we grow our business, another key part of our blueprint is environment sustainability. And we are embedding this in all our practices to allow us to build a greener air hub. Our commitment is set out in 2 main sustainability targets: 20% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. There are 4 key pillars to support this ambition. So number one is to support the Sustainable Aviation Fuel, SAF fuel, to decarbonise aviation. We are also electrifying all new airside vehicles and expanding our EV infrastructure. For the airport, we are expanding more EV charging points to support our partners in this process. And the goal is 100% cleaner energy by 2040. We are also installing solar panels on top of all our buildings and warehouses, and by the end of this year, it will be the single site in Singapore with the largest coverage of solar panels. And last but not least, I think working with our airline and logistics partners in terms of waste management, I think there's more work to be done in these areas. So together, all these initiatives reflect Changi's firm commitment to building a green and more resilient future for aviation. So in the next 6 years, the airport has also announced an ambitious project for $3 billion of investment that helps to invest and expand Terminals 1 to 4. These investments include rejuvenating the SkyTrain subsystem, including additional SkyTrain cars, building a new line for baggage handling, and also rejuvenating some of our terminal facilities, and also reinforcing aircraft stands to accommodate next-generation aircraft such as the Boeing 777-9. And looking further ahead, Changi Airport has embarked on one of our most ambitious projects, Terminal 5, which has broken ground a few months ago. When completed, T5 will bring an additional 50 million passenger capacity to Changi Airport's current 90 million per year. At the same time, we are also enlarging our cargo industrial zone. Today, the Changi Air Freight Centre handles 3 million tonnes of cargo per year. It will be expanded to 5.4 million tonnes at the completion of the T5 project. So as we look to the future, we are reminded that aviation progress is not only measured in numbers, it is also people, partnerships, and purpose. The journey ahead will demand resilience, collaboration, and innovation. So on this, Changi Airport stands ready in shaping an aviation ecosystem that is inclusive and forward-looking, and we look forward to all your support on this. So finally, again, welcome to Singapore. And I wish you a fruitful and good conference ahead.

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