Passenger Throughput and Aircraft Movements Continue to Grow in May

The FINANCIAL — Both passengers and aircraft movements at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) registered steady growth in May 2015. During the month, passenger volume rose by 12.1% to 5.8 million, while aircraft movements increased by 4.2% to 34,115 compared to the same month last year. Cargo throughput experienced a slight 0.3% yearly drop to 366,000 tonnes.

The growth in passenger traffic in May was mainly due to 18% year-on-year growth in both transfer/transit traffic and Hong Kong resident traffic. Passenger traffic to/from Southeast Asia and North Asia recorded the most significant increases, according to Hong Kong International Airport.

The slight decline in cargo throughput last month was mainly attributed to a 2% year-on-year drop in exports. Imports and transshipments both registered a 1% increase compared to the same month last year. Traffic to/from North America outperformed other key regions during the month.

Vivian Cheung, Deputy Director, Airport Operations of Airport Authority Hong Kong said, “To tackle the health risks arising from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in South Korea, HKIA has implemented a series of contingency measures to facilitate centralised temperature checking by the Port Health Office. All arriving passenger flights from South Korea will be directed to designated parking stands, and passengers will go through temperature screening immediately upon entering the terminal.”

“We have stepped up cleaning work at the Southwest Concourse, South Apron Passenger Vehicle entry gate and the air bridges. Announcements regarding prevention of infectious diseases are being made at the terminals and through flight information display systems. To keep the airport community abreast of the latest developments in infectious diseases, we have arranged briefing sessions and distributed guidelines in conjunction with the Port Health Office,” added Mrs Cheung.

Since the start of the year, HKIA has welcomed 27.9 million passengers, 1.7 million tonnes of cargo and 166,745 aircraft movements, marking year-on-year increases of 9.5%, 1.4% and 4.6%, respectively.

On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA has served 65.8 million passengers and handled 398,380 aircraft movements, with both figures increasing year-on-year by 6.9% and 4.5%, respectively. Cargo tonnage increased by 4.1% to 4.4 million tonnes over the same period.