HKIA Air Traffic Continues to Grow Steadily in April

(HONG KONG, 13 May 2018)  –  Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recorded growth in all three air traffic categories in April 2018. During the month HKIA handled 6.32 million passengers and 35,365 flight movements, marking year-on-year growth of 0.8% and 1.8% respectively, while cargo and airmail throughput rose 4.8% to 426,000 tonnes as compared to the same period last year.

The slight growth in passenger traffic in April was mainly driven by 10% year-on-year growth in visitor traffic. Passenger traffic to / from Mainland China and Japan recorded the most significant increases.

17% growth in transshipments attributed the most to the growth in cargo throughput in April. Among the key trading regions, cargo throughput for North America increased most significantly in the month.

Easter holiday fell in late-March this year, as compared to April in 2017. Balancing out the impact of the Easter holidays, the March and April combined passenger traffic showed a 4.5% year-on-year growth, driven by 9% growth in visitor traffic. Cargo and airmail throughput registered 0.9% growth while flight movements increased by 2.3%.

Over the first four months of the year, HKIA handled 24.7 million passengers and 1.60 million tonnes of cargo and airmail for year-on-year increases of 3.4% and 4.2% respectively. Flight movements increased 2.5% to 139,935 compared to the same period in 2017.

On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA registered 73.7 million passengers, 5.11 million tonnes of cargo and airmail, and 424,025 flight movements, representing year-on-year growth of 4.1%, 7.2% and 3.0% respectively.

HKIA also continued its on-going efforts to seek and implement best practices in environmental management, resulting in the airport receiving a number of awards from international organisations. HKIA was presented with the Platinum award in the Airports Council International Asia-Pacific Green Airports Recognition 2018. With a theme of “Waste Minimisation” this year, the award commends outstanding achievements by airports in environmental projects. HKIA also received the Environment Award at the World Travel and Tourism Council’s 2018 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards for achieving best environmental practices through a number of measures.

Receiving the award on behalf of HKIA in Tokyo, Vivian Cheung, Deputy Director, Aviation Development, Airport Authority Hong Kong, remarked, “We are delighted and honoured that HKIA’s efforts to become one of the world’s greenest airports are being recognised. These awards reflect the collaborative efforts of the airport community in reducing HKIA’s environmental footprint. The AA will continue to work hand in hand with the airport community to operate and develop HKIA in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.”