Airport passes 32 million passenger mark

(HONG KONG, 13 July 2000) - Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has continued its record-breaking streak of passenger and air cargo figures.

For the first time, more than 32 million passengers were handled in a 12-month period, between July 1999 and June 2000. A record 2.14 million tonnes of air cargo was handled in the same period.

The airport recorded double-digit growth for all air traffic activities on a year on year basis. Passengers totalled 2.75 million in June, a rise of 16.7 per cent over June 1999. Cargo grew 19.4 per cent, and aircraft movements were up 10 per cent in the same period.

As a review for the first half of 2000, total passenger throughput increased by 11.1 per cent when compared with the same period in 1999. The increase in passenger traffic was partly driven by very strong growth in transfer activity and partly by the healthy increase in visitor arrivals from Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Growth in air cargo traffic remained strong after Y2K, with 1.04 million tonnes handled in the first six months of the year. This was a rise of 19.2 per cent over the same period last year, and was attributed to the sustained increase in exports to mainly Europe, North America and Taiwan.

"Surpassing the 32 million passenger mark is a significant milestone," Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer Billy Lam Chung-lun said. "The continuing strength of the economies among our main trading partners, plus the sustained recovery closer to home, give us much cause for optimism for the rest of the year."

 

Ref. PR-519