Singapore's Changi Airport hosted a total of 17.7 million passengers in the first half of 2007, an increase of 5.4 percent over the same period of last year.

According to a statement by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Thursday, in March and June, monthly passenger traffic crossed the 3 million mark, with some 3.1 million-passenger movements registered in each month.

Lim Kim Choon, director-general and chief executive officer of CAAS, said in the statement, "Last year, Changi Airport handled a record 35.03 million passengers. With the steady growth of passengers through Changi Airport in the first six months this year, we look forward to setting new records for passenger traffic in 2007."

Connectivity at Changi Airport also improved in the past six months. Five new cities joined its network, including Udon Thani in Thailand, Tiruchirapally in India, Atlanta in the United States, Nairobi in Kenya and Budapest in Hungary. Hungary and Kenya are also new country links for Changi Airport.

The airport also looks forward to welcoming new carriers such as Etihad Airways to its network later this year, CAAS said.

Currently, the well-known Changi Airport is served by 79 airlines via 4,180 weekly scheduled flights to 185 cities in 59 countries.