Airport passenger traffic up 4.7%

December 18, 2011

Passenger traffic and aircraft movements at Hong Kong International Airport continued a trend of steady growth in November as it handled 4.3 million passengers and 27,865 aircraft movements, up 4.7% and 4.2% over a year earlier.
 
Cargo volume declined 6.6% to 343,000 tonnes during the month.
 
The growth in passenger volume was driven primarily by visitor traffic, which registered an increase of 7% over the same month last year. Passenger traffic to and from the Mainland performed particularly well.
 
The cargo decline was mainly attributed to the 10% year-on-year drop in exports. Imports fell 3% while transshipments registered a growth of just 0.1%. Europe and North America experienced double-digit year-on-year declines in overall cargo traffic during the month.
 
Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui said despite the recent drop in cargo throughput due to the slowdown in imports and exports, he is confident the long-term prospects remain promising as the Mainland’s economy continues to boom and Hong Kong also remains on a steady growth path.
 
During the first 11 months of the year, the airport recorded 5.7% and 9.2% year-on-year growth in passenger volume and aircraft movements, reaching 49.1 million and 304,450. Airfreight handling declined 4.6% to 3.6 million tonnes during the period.
 
On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger volume and aircraft movements rose  5.8% and 9.6% yearly, to 53.6 million and 332,190. Cargo volume registered a decrease of 3.4% to 4 million tonnes.