Singapore has urged Chinese authorities to restore flight capacity between the two nations to pre-COVID levels as soon as possible in a bid to improve business and tourism ties.
According to a report by The Straits Times, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan made the request to his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang during a meeting this week, noting that the number of weekly flights between the two is currently just 56 compared to 400 in 2019.
This is despite Beijing having dropped most international border restrictions from 8 January.
“One of the KPIs (key performance indicators) I have been set is to try to get this number back to what it was as soon as possible,” Balakrishnan said.
The report added that the restoration of such links was Singapore’s number one request during the meeting, aiming to facilitate free movement of business people, tourists and students on both sides.
The pending return of Chinese customers is seen as providing further upside to Singapore’s IRs – Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) – which both reported strong 4Q22 gains even in the absence of one of their key source markets.
With MBS having booked record revenues in both the mass gaming and retail segments, Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein told investors during the company’s recent Q4 earnings call, “We are excited to have the opportunity to introduce our new suite product to more customers as airlift capacity improves and growth in visitation from China and the wider region is enabled by the relaxing of travel restrictions.”
Genting Singapore, which this week reported an 85% increase in income in FY22 to SG$345.1 million, noted that, “flight capacity and economic uncertainties will moderate the pace of [RWS] recovery.”
Chinese visitors had previously contributed close to 50% of Genting Singapore’s earnings, according to analysts.
