Typhoon Mangkhut rains on HKIA's parade as September aviation figues take hit

There were no flight movement for over 20 hours.

Hong Kong’s strong aviation figures lost momentum in September after Typhoon Mangkhut’s gusty winds resulted in no flight movement for more than 20 hours and effectively hit monthly flight statistics, according to data from the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). 

Passenger volume which has soared for seven straight months dipped 0.3% YoY to 5.6 million in September with overall traffic to and from Japan and Southeast Asia booking the largest decline.

Sustained figures of Hong Kong resident travel and visitor traffic to Hong Kong which rose 4% and 1% respectively failed to offset softening numbers in overall passenger traffic volume.

Also read: Hong Kong inks meteorological pact to strengthen disaster preparedness

Flight movements also fell 2.7% to 33,705 even as the HKIA implemented extensive rescheduling involving over 1,000 flight movements in one day after the storm moved away from the territory.

Cargo and airmail throughput also dropped 1.4% YoY to 431,000 tonnes on the back of a 4% decrease in exports. Traffic to and from Europe and Japan declined the most significantly.

However, the transshipments segment was able to post stronger headline figures and achieve a 3% YoY growth.

Photo from Ken'ichi at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain,