Statistics

HK airport's traffic surges in Feb

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-15 09:47

HONG KONG - Boosted by strong Chinese Lunar New Year traffic, February passenger and cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) surged 17 percent and 30.1 percent respectively year-on-year, to 3.9 million and 257,000 tons, the Airport Authority of Hong Kong announced Sunday.

Air traffic movements also rose by 4.9 percent from the same month in 2009, to 22,270.

"February's performance was encouraging as it was the first month since July 2008 that all three traffic figures recorded growth, fully reflecting a continued recovery in the economy," said Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Authority.

Benefiting from the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, Hong Kong resident travel surged by 45.3 percent and visitors by 17.5 percent in February over a year earlier.

Combined January and February figures, which balance out the seasonal impact of the Chinese traditional holidays, show an increase of 15.3 percent in Hong Kong resident traffic and 9.2 percent in visitor numbers.

On the cargo side, February's imports jumped 28 percent year-on-year while exports grew 44 percent and transshipments rose 8 percent. Imports and exports both increased by over 40 percent in the first two months over the same period in 2009, while transshipments also grew by more than 10 percent. Strong import and export growth was experienced across all HKIA major markets.

During the first two months, the airport handled 7.9 million passengers, 558,000 tons of cargo and 45,730 flight movements, up 6.9 percent, 36.9 percent and 0.6 percent respectively over the same period in 2009.

"Both passenger and cargo traffic have returned to the pre- crisis levels in 2008, although aircraft movements were still 5.7 percent below the first two months of 2008. Based on these figures, we have confidence that this growth trend will continue," Hui added.

Hui also said flight movements during the summer operating season will increase by about 15 percent over the same season last year, indicating that the aviation industry is ramping up flights to meet the anticipated market demand of the coming months.