Moderate declines reaffirm stabilisation for air passenger, cargo volume

Passenger throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reached 3.5 million passenger trips in September 2009, 3.5% below the same period in 2008. Cargo throughput also dropped 4.3% year on year to 304,000 tonnes, while air traffic movements recorded a decline of 8% to 22,570. Declines in air traffic volumes have continued to narrow over the last three months.

The fall in passenger volume was largely due to weak visitor traffic, particularly from markets like Taiwan and North America. Transfer/ transit passengers also dropped 11% year on year, which was mainly the result of declining traffic from the Mainland and Taiwan markets. Travel made by Hong Kong residents, however, recorded year-on-year growth of 9%. Compared with cargo figures from September 2008, exports and transshipments saw declines of around 4% and 15% respectively, while imports grew by about 6%.

Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, pointed out that the mild year-on-year reductions of 3.5% and 4.3% in passenger and cargo traffic indicated that contractions continue to narrow. He said, "Comparing year-on-year movements on a quarterly basis, decline in passenger volume has reduced from Q1's 7.1% to Q3's 3.5%, while cargo volume has improved significantly from a drop of 22.9% in Q1 to a decline of 5.9% in Q3. It should be noted that air traffic figures of Q3 of 2008 were comparatively lower as global economic downturn started to affect air traffic worldwide.

"Meanwhile, one passenger and six freighter airlines have resumed or started operating at HKIA since July, reflecting well on their confidence in Hong Kong as well as the aviation industry. We will continue to enhance HKIA's service quality and facilities and work side by side with airlines in strengthening Hong Kong as a leading international and regional aviation centre," Mr Hui added.
HKIA handled some 34.2 million passenger trips and 2.4 million tonnes of cargo between January and September this year, representing year-on-year decreases of 6.6% and 15.1%, respectively. Air traffic movements dropped 7.9% to 207,850.
On a rolling 12-month basis, the airport recorded 46.2 million passenger trips, 3.2 million tonnes of cargo and 283,370 flight movements, representing yearly decreases of 6%, 16% and 6.2%, respectively.

Source: Transportweekly