Traffic in and out of Singapore’s Changi Airport picked up over January this year with an increase of 12.1 percent more passenger movements handled for the month compared to January 2011.

Statistics from the airport found that 4.24 million passed through the airport during the first month of 2012, marking it a “strong note” to start the year.

The airport contributed growth to the Chinese Lunar New Year, which drew in arrivals from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.

Meanwhile the top five routes included Jakarta, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Mila, which in total accounted for up to one third of total movements.

Along with passenger increase, aircraft landings and takeoffs grew by 14.9 percent for the month compared to the last with 27,600 movements.