Singapore - Singapore's Changi Airport has recorded a 3.5 per cent increase in scheduled weekly flights since the beginning of this month, despite softening of travel demand due to the global economic crisis, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said Thursday.

Weekly scheduled flights were expected to increase further in December, when a liberalization agreement, allowing low-cost airlines to operate between Singapore and Malaysia, comes into force, the CAAS said.

But CAAS Director-General and Chief Executive Officer Lim Kim Choon remained cautious about the outlook for 2009 which will be a very challenging year for the aviation industry as the full impact of the global economic downturn is expected to be felt more acutely, he said. (dpa)