The Routes Asia 2023 Awards were sponsored by Embraer

Singapore Changi Airport has been crowned the Overall Winner of this year’s Routes Awards. In 2022, the hub increased its traffic to 32.2 million passenger movements, from just 3.1 million passenger movements in 2021. It has recovered 47% of its passenger traffic compared with 2019 and is currently ranked the 7th busiest international airport in the world. In the last two years, Singapore Changi Airport welcomed 11 new passenger airlines: Aircalin, Air Premia, Bamboo Airways, Cambodia Airways, Citilink, Gulf Air, Hong Kong Express, Starlux Airlines, Thai VietJet, T’Way Air, and ZIPAIR.

Upon winning the award, Alicia Chen, General Manager, Market Development at Changi Airport Group said; “We would like to express our deepest appreciation to our airline partners who have collaborated closely with every one of us at Changi Airport, and together, we have recovered our passenger traffic steadily since our full reopening in April 2022. Changi Airport is committed to grow our connectivity through restoring flights and capacity, expanding to new markets and developing new passenger segments with our family of airlines. We will continue to seek innovative ways of marketing our air hub and look forward to more exciting years ahead with our invaluable partners.”

In the Under 5 Million Passenger Category, Mactan-Cebu International Airport was named the winner. GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) have always taken a two-pronged approach to route development: airline marketing to create supply and destination marketing to ensure the sustainability of its airline partners' presence and address the demand for air services.

Perth Airport was named the winner of the 5-10 Million Passenger Category. VFR and leisure markets have rebounded strongly for the airport. It has produced some impressive recovery results due to an effective stakeholder engagement and marketing strategy, the underlying strength of Western Australia’s economy, the high propensity of Western Australian residents to travel and Perth’s positioning as Australia’s western gateway.

The Philippine Department of Tourism was named the winner in the Destination category. It has continued to be persistent in its efforts to partner with airports and airlines to reinstate discontinued routes and secure new air services. It has done this through marketing efforts locally and globally, regional travel exchanges and business-to-business meetings, joint campaigns, international roadshows, and familiarisation tours for agents and media.

AirAsia Group secured the Airline Award. The group is the largest low-cost carrier in Asia and provides extensive connectivity throughout the region. With the gradual easing of travel restrictions and resumption of freight and cargo activities, AirAsia Aviation Group is looking forward to recovering its full fleet and 2019 numbers by 2023 in all the key markets and continuing its further growth and expansion.

The full list of winning organisations:

Airport size categories for this year’s Routes Awards were based on 2022 pax data.

Overall Winner
Singapore Changi Airport

Under 5 Million Passengers
Mactan-Cebu International Airport

5-10 Million Passengers
Perth Airport

Over 10 Million Passengers
Singapore Changi Airport

Destination
Philippine Department of Tourism

Airline
AirAsia Group