June traffic figures reflect gradual recovery from SARS

(HONG KONG, 9 July 2003) – Air traffic figures for June at Hong Kong International Airport showed that life was slowly returning to normal for the aviation industry. The effect of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was still apparent, as the June total passenger traffic figure was down 57.2 per cent compared with the same month last year. This, however, still marked an improvement over the previous month. In May, passenger traffic was down 79.9 per cent from the same month last year.

While total aircraft movement experienced a year-on-year decline of 43.1 per cent, this represented an increase of 15 per cent from May. With passenger figures improving, the airlines were in fact filling more of their seats. Also for the months of May, June and July, there were signs that aircraft movement was starting to bounce back: a total of 1,040 weekly flights were resumed, accounting for 46% of total cancellations.

The Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer, Dr David J Pang, expressed confidence in the rebound. “HKIA is clearly emerging from the woods,” he said. “The latest figures show that we are well on track to making a full recovery.” July looked set to continue the trend: daily passenger traffic figures for the first week were already up to about 70% of pre-SARS levels.

Clearly a factor in the improved outlook was the World Health Organization’s removal of Hong Kong from the list of SARS-affected areas on 23 June, along with the lifting of the travel advisory a month earlier. Promotional campaigns launched by both the travel and aviation industries also played a role, with the number of Hong Kong residents travelling almost back to pre-SARS levels.

There was little change in the amount of cargo handled. Some 202,000 tonnes of cargo passed through HKIA in June, a decrease of 1.6 per cent from last year. This was due to a slight drop in imports to Hong Kong from Japan and S E Asia during the month.

Passenger throughput from July 2002 to June 2003 fell 13.7 per cent to 28.4 million, compared with the previous 12-month period. Cargo throughput rose 14.3 per cent to 2.55 million tonnes, while total aircraft movement was down 3.4 per cent to 191,445.

Meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) released a report giving full marks to HKIA for its anti-SARS program. According to the evaluation, HKIA fully complied with a list of anti-SARS measures drawn up by ICAO and the World Health Organization.

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