HKIA sets records for passenger and air traffic movements in July

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) set new monthly records for passenger volume and air traffic movements in July 2012, handling over 5 million passengers – representing growth of 0.5% over July 2011, when the previous record was set – and 29,880 air traffic movements – representing year-on-year growth of 3.4% and breaking the previous record set in March 2012. Cargo volume saw a decline of 1.6% year on year to 335,000 tonnes during the month.

The growth in passenger traffic was due mainly to travel by Hong Kong residents, which saw a 6% rise over the same month last year. Passenger traffic to and from Japan and Taiwan performed particularly well.

Although imports grew by 4% in July, cargo volume declined primarily because of a 4% year-on-year drop in exports together with a 3% decrease in transshipments. Cargo activity with South East Asia outperformed other key regions.

Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said, “We are pleased that both passenger and air traffic movements have once again set records, and we believe that the growth trend will continue in the coming months. Meanwhile, we will keep a close eye on the latest situation in the cargo market.

“As we develop the airport to meet its future air traffic demand, the entire airport community is also giving 100% effort to help handle the increasing amount of traffic we are currently facing. The Job Expo we recently held in early August attracted more than 10,000 participants over three days, and our business partners were able to hire qualified candidates to meet their operational needs. The prospects for aviation are promising, and we believe the industry will continue to play a significant role in Hong Kong’s employment market and help nurture the youth workforce in the city,” Mr Hui added.

For the first seven months of the year, HKIA handled 32.7 million passengers and air traffic movement reached 201,760, representing 5.9% and 5.4% increases respectively compared with the same period last year. Cargo volume amounted to 2.3 million tonnes, a slight drop of 0.2% compared to the same period last year.

On a rolling 12-month basis, the airport has served 55.7 million passengers and handled 344,160 flight movements, representing year-on-year growth of 5.9% and 5.5% respectively. Over the same period, cargo volume declined by 3.1% to 3.9 million tonnes.

Download the traffic statistics