HKIA’s overall traffic grows in October

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) achieved sustained air traffic growth in October 2012, handling 4.7 million passenger trips and 346,000 tonnes of cargo for year-on-year increases of 1.9% and 1.1% respectively. The airport also saw 30,025 flight movements, representing an increase of 5.1% compared to the same month last year.

The growth in passenger traffic was driven mainly by a surge in travel by Hong Kong residents for the long National Day holidays, resulting in a 14% rise over October 2011. Passenger traffic to and from South East Asia and Taiwan performed particularly well.

The growth in cargo throughput was primarily due to the 11% year-on-year increase in transshipments. During the month, cargo throughput to and from North America and Mainland China outperformed other key regions.

Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said, “It is encouraging to see that HKIA has recorded growth in all three traffic categories for the third month in a row. We anticipate that passenger traffic and flight movements will continue to grow in the near future. Preliminary numbers on cargo throughput in November also suggest a welcome and strong rebound in the year-end peak months. We are cautiously optimistic about cargo performance for 2012 given the arrival of the holiday season.

“I’m also happy to report that HKIA has been named the ‘Best Airport in China’ in the Business Traveller China Awards for the sixth time in seven years, in recognition of its service excellence. I must thank the airport community for its consistent efforts to provide a delightful airport experience for our passengers from all over the world, which is particularly challenging given the HKIA’s increasingly high traffic volumes. We are constantly seeking ways to improve our service, and we will continue to review airport operations with our business partners with a view toward further enhancing the passenger experience,” Mr Hui added.

HKIA also announced it has recently expanded its air services network with the addition of Globus Airlines, providing flight services to Novosibirsk, Russia.

Over the first 10 months of this year, passenger traffic climbed 4.8% to 46.9 million while cargo volume grew 0.9% to 3.3 million tonnes. Aircraft movements reached 291,135, representing yearly growth of 5.2% compared with the same period last year.

On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger volume and aircraft movements rose by 5% and 5.2% to 56 million and 348,310 respectively. Cargo volume registered a slight decline of 0.3% to 4 million tonnes.

Download the traffic statistics