The chief executive officer of the Changi Airport Group (CAG) noted "new frictions and hurdles" that could hamper the aviation industry's growth as the Singapore aviation hub reported its results for the year ended March 31, 2023.

Lee Seow Hiang, CEO of CAG, signalled optimism, particularly for the return to pre-Covid levels of passenger traffic by 2024.

"Leveraging the current growth momentum, we are optimistic that passenger traffic can reach pre-Covid levels by 2024," Lee Seow Hiang said.

"However, as we approach a return to normalcy, we are cognizant of new frictions and hurdles that can hamper growth. These include aircraft availability and long-term changes to travelling behaviour."

For these reasons, he noted that CAG remains "vigilant" and will continue to pave the way forward, emphasising sustainable travel and building for the future through innovation.

His comments come as CAG saw passenger movements saw an eightfold increase year-on-year (YoY) to 42.6 million, or 62% of pre-Covid levels, while air traffic movements doubled YoY to 257,000, or 67% of pre-Covid levels, supporting the partial recovery in revenues from airport services and airport concessions.

Following the relaxation of Singapore's border restrictions in April 2022, passenger traffic through Changi Airport rose steadily to reach 82% of pre-Covid levels by March 2023.

Return to profitability

With Changi Airport's passenger traffic recovery, the Group's EBITDA grew to S$751 million in FY2022/23 from S$232 million in FY2021/22 — returning to profitability.

"2022 was a significant year of recovery for the aviation industry and Changi Airport. With the reopening of borders in Singapore and around the world, global travel has witnessed a strong rebound. CAG prepared well for this, and we successfully ramped up operations to meet the increase in passenger numbers. With the planned reopening of Terminal 2 North, we will have four fully operating terminals by October 2023," said Tan Gee Paw, Chairman of CAG.

"Today, not only has Changi maintained its position as the leading air hub in the region, we continue to be recognised for delivering the best airport experience for our passengers," he added.

Lee Seow Hiang, for his part, said to cater to the surge in travel demand last year, CAG worked hard to reopen our terminals in a timely manner and carried out a fundamental and crucial rebalancing of airlines across our four terminals to optimise Changi Airport's operations.

"Amid stiff challenges to secure the necessary manpower resources, we stayed agile and focused on driving transformation to strengthen our operational capabilities and keep our service levels high," he added.