Hong Kong airport sees 15.5% more passengers in July

There were 111,000 passengers during the month.

The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled some 111,000 passengers and 11,850 flight movements in July, which showed 15.5% and 20% year-on-year (YoY) increases, respectively.

On a daily basis, passenger traffic improved to 3,500 passengers during the month, driven by a significant increase in passengers travelling to and from Mainland China.

The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA), however, noted this is less than 2% of the pre-pandemic level.

To date, HKIA has handled 491,000 passengers and 74,665 flight movements, representing 94.2% and 28.2% YoY decreases, respectively, since the beginning of the year.

On a 12-month rolling basis, HKIA saw 97.4% and 52.1% drops in passengers and flight movements, to 925,000 and 131,310, respectively.

Meanwhile, cargo throughput rose 12.4% to 419,000 tonnes, compared to the same month last year. Cargo throughput rose 12% to 2.7 million tonnes in the last seven months and by 4.6% to 4.8 million tonnes on a 12-month rolling basis.

This was linked to the strong growth of 21% recorded in transshipments.

Both imports and exports also experienced double-digit growth with cargo to and from Southeast Asia accounting for the most significant increase.

“Strong growth in exports of air cargo last month is a clear indication that the new screening measures have been implemented smoothly – strengthening the security of export air cargoes while maintaining high operational efficiency at HKIA,” AA Executive Director for Commercial Cissy Chan said.

“We believe that the enhanced air cargo security reinforces HKIA’s status as the world’s leading cargo hub.”

In July, the Civil Aviation Department successfully implemented 100% security screening for export air cargo, meeting the International Civil Aviation Organization’s policy direction towards enhancing global air cargo security as scheduled.