Source: The Standard Author: Beth Ye 12/21/2009
Subject Concerned: Airlines Cargo Airport
Cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) climbed to 344,000 tonnes last month - up 16.4 percent year-on-year - as both exports and imports continued to improve.
Exports posted year-on-year growth of 23 percent last month, while imports rose 21 percent. But transshipments dropped 6 percent, with traffic to and from Europe, Taiwan, and Australasia showing double-digit declines.
Passenger volume and aircraft movements fell by 0.4 percent and 5.2 percent to 3.8 million and 23,515, respectively, last month.
Transfer/transit traffic registered a decrease of 12 percent, a reflection of the growing number of passengers taking scheduled direct flights when traveling across the Taiwan Strait.
Despite these declines, Stanley Hui Hon-chung, chief executive of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), said the numbers still indicated progress has been made.
"Stronger demand for air travel and better market sentiment are driving airlines to reinstate their previously suspended capacity and routes," Hui said.
"We have also seen new airlines launching new services and routes to Hong Kong, such as Air Pacific in early December, following the signing of the air services agreement between Hong Kong and Fiji."
For the first 11 months, the airport handled 42 million passengers and three million tonnes of cargo, down 5.8 percent and 10.8 percent from the same period a year ago.