December air traffic sets record

January 25, 2012

Hong Kong International Airport set a new monthly record for air traffic in December with 29,275 aircraft movements, exceeding the previous record of 28,951 in August 2011 and representing 5.5% year-on-year growth, the Airport Authority says.
 
During the month, passenger traffic increased 7.5% to 4.8 million, while cargo throughput saw a decline of 4.3% to 346,000 tonnes from a year earlier.
 
The rise in passenger traffic in December was mainly driven by visitor traffic, which registered 8% growth over the same month in 2010. Passenger traffic to and from the Mainland and Southeast Asia performed particularly well.
 
The cargo decline in December was mainly attributed to the 7% year-on-year drop in exports. Imports dropped 5% while transshipments registered 3% growth compared to the same month in 2010. Europe and North America experienced double-digit year-on-year declines in overall cargo traffic as a result of the continued weak economic conditions in these two major markets.
 
Last year, the airport welcomed 53.9 million passengers and handled 333,760 aircraft movements, representing a year-on-year growth of 5.9% and 8.9%. Annual cargo performance decreased 4.6% to 3.9 million tonnes. Both passenger trips and aircraft movements set new records.
 
Cross-boundary passenger trips via limousines or coaches and the SkyPier ferry services registered yearly growth of 11% and 7%, to 1.9 million and 2.4 million.
 
Last year saw 13 new airlines start operations, bringing the total number of airlines serving in Hong Kong to more than 100.