Singapore airport set to have record passenger in 2011

Singapore Changi Airport handled more than 42 million passenger movements in the first 11 months of the year, which is almost on par with the full-year total for 2010, the airport said on Thursday. It handled 3.89 million passenger movements in November, an increase of 7.4 percent year on year. The higher passenger traffic was underpinned by increased demand for air travel to and from Northeast Asia and the Middle East, with both regions recording double-digit growth. Low cost carriers carried 27.2 percent more passengers in November this year compared with the same month last year, while traffic on full-service carriers grew by 1.9 percent year on year. Aircraft movements grew by 15.9 percent to 26,000 movements. About 160,200 tons of cargo was handled during the month, up 4.6 percent. The airport handled close to 1.7 million tons of cargo for the year-to-date, up 2.5 percent year on year. Changi airport was one of the busiest in the world. It is connected to some 210 cities and serves over 100 airlines operating more than 6,100 weekly flights.