Xiamen is one of the top five mainland China cities by passenger traffic in the first half of 2024.

Since the 30-day visa-free arrangements between Singapore and China commenced in February this year, passenger traffic between the two countries has grown to new heights, surpassing the traffic volume of pre-Covid days. That month saw passenger traffic between the two countries hitting 108% of February 2019 levels, a first post-Covid. More than 650,000 travellers flew between Singapore and China that month.

With the travel recovery, China rose to become Changi Airport’s top country market in February, March and June 2024.  Some 3.7 million passengers travelled between Singapore and China during the first six months of 2024, eclipsing slightly the 3.6 million passenger movements recorded in the same period in 2019.

Top cities in China

For the first half of 2024, the top five mainland Chinese cities with the highest passenger traffic were Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen and Xiamen. While the top four spots remained unchanged even after Covid, Xiamen has overtaken Chengdu as the fifth top busiest Chinese city.

Shanghai is the top mainland China city link for Changi in the first half of 2024.

Shanghai, Xiamen and Shenzhen were also the cities experiencing fastest growth by absolute passenger numbers, with Kunming and Nanjing rounding up the top five. Of these, Shanghai has broken through the one million passenger movements mark in the first six months of the year. In comparison, it saw 820,000 passenger movements to and from Singapore in the same period in 2019.

Other cities explored by Singapore travellers

With Changi Airport currently connected to 29 cities in China via 15 airlines and over 400 departing flights per week, which other cities have Singapore travellers been exploring?

Apart from new favourite Xiamen, among the fastest growing cities by percentage growth, Kunming came up tops, with an over 80% increase in passenger traffic, although Kunming started from a lower base. This is followed by Changsha, Zhengzhou and Nanjing. Of these, Changsha and Zhengzhou also grew from relatively smaller bases (below 50,000 passenger movements for the six months) compared to Xiamen and Nanjing.

Promoting travel between Singapore and China

“CAG has also been working closely with airline partners to pursue new city links and seek even more destination options for travellers, as China remains a top destination of Singapore travellers. Since the start of the year, we have added two new city links in China at Changi Airport – Jieyang Chaoshan in March, operated by Spring Airlines, and Quanzhou in June, operated by Xiamen Air,” said Mr Peh Ke-Wei, CAG’s Vice President of Market Development.

“While the Tier 1 cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou continue to be well visited, less well-known cities which offer equally compelling experiences, such as Ningbo and Wuxi have become increasingly popular too. Together with Nanjing and Chongqing, these cities have been seeing higher passenger traffic, attesting to their attractiveness as destinations.

CAG also worked with a range of partners to promote Singapore to Chinese travellers. For instance, CAG worked with Ctrip on a pan-market inbound campaign between December 2023 and February 2024. The campaign included attractive vouchers such as flight ticket vouchers, Jewel Changi Airport attraction and retail vouchers, and transit shopping vouchers. The campaign was promoted via various channels in China, such as livestream sessions held on Ctrip, and advertisements in Beijing and Chongqing subways.

CAG and China Eastern Airlines organised a familiarisation session for trade partners with the airline’s commencement of services to Beijing Daxing Airport.

In addition, CAG also partnered airlines to promote new city links when they were launched. When China Eastern Airlines commenced services to Beijing Daxing Airport, CAG participated in trade events jointly with the airline, in Singapore as well as China, to introduce the new service to trade partners.

Changi Airport manages several communication channels with the Chinese, through popular platforms like Weibo, XiaoHongShu and WeChat. The Changi WeChat Mini programme offers essential airport information catering to the preferences of Chinese users. Ahead of peak travel seasons, Changi Airport launches campaigns featuring key influencers who share their experiences at Changi Airport, guiding travellers on maximising their time when here. During these periods, Changi collaborates with Chinese payment gateways and credit card issuers to offer shopping promotions, including special edition products available only at Changi.  

Enticing travellers to explore lesser-known destinations

To entice discerning travellers from Singapore to explore the lesser-known destinations in China, CAG reaches out to them through various modes. One of them is via Changi Airport’s blog site, Now Boarding, which offers destination stories and traveller insights and tips, as well as latest updates on what’s happening in both Singapore and Changi Airport.

CAG’s Now Boarding blog aims to inspire travel with stories on travel destinations and travel tips and hooks.

CAG also spreads the word actively on its social channels, with regular giveaways and contests held in partnership with airline partners. For those wishing to score travel deals or be the first to get updates on latest destinations from Changi – join Changi Airport’s social channels to get alerts from CAG.  A Travel to China social campaign is being planned later this year and you could be a lucky winner of air tickets to one of China’s exciting cities!