| Reuters January 28, 2008 SINGAPORE By Daryl Loo SINGAPORE'S Changi Airport handled a record 36.7 million passengers last year, mainly due to higher flow of traffic from countries like China and India, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said on Monday. Air cargo handled by Changi, however, fell 0.9 percent to 1.89 million tonnes in 2007, CAAS said in a statement. The total passenger traffic in 2007 was up 4.8 percent from a year ago, with the numbers of Chinese passengers growing 12.6 percent and Indian travellers rising by 15.6 percent, the statement said. Traffic from emerging markets such as Vietnam, Russia and South Africa all registered double-digit growth, it said. CAAS said the drop in cargo handling was due to softening US demand for electronics and "the growing preference by manufacturers to ship their products by sea instead of by air, as a result of the high fuel price". Changi Airport on Jan. 9 opened a third terminal, boosting its total capacity by 45 percent to 70 million, as airports throughout Asia expand to gear up for predictions of strong growth throughout the region. |
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