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Hong Kong International Airport Achieves Steady Growth in 2018/19

2019/07/29

Leading aviation hub continues its evolution from city airport to Airport City

(HONG KONG, 29 July 2019) – Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) posted stable growth for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2019, scaling new heights in passenger numbers and flight movements. As HKIA celebrated its 20th anniversary, the airport welcomed 75.1 million passengers and handled 428,870 flight movements in 2018/19, registering year-on-year increases of 2% and 1.3%, respectively. Total cargo volume reached 5.06 million tonnes, securing HKIA’s status as the world’s busiest cargo airport for the ninth consecutive year.

Jack So Chak-kwong, Chairman of Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA), said, “Over the past two decades, HKIA has made significant contributions to Hong Kong, driving its growth as an international city. Through the continuous development of our passenger and cargo services, the expansion of our cross-boundary multimodal transport network, and the growth of commercial and other facilities around the airport, HKIA is poised to transform from a city airport into an Airport City in the coming years.”

During the year, HKIA carried out various expansion projects to meet growing air traffic demand. The Three-runway System (3RS) project continued to make progress and the AA is proceeding with the plan to commission the new Third-runway by 2022 and the entire 3RS by the end of 2024. On the other hand, the AA is carrying out a series of major enhancements of existing airport facilities, including the construction of Terminal 1 Annex Building, which provides 48 additional check-in counters, two baggage reclaim carousels, more restaurants and shops.

Passengers will soon also enjoy the enhanced shopping and dining services at HKIA. During the fiscal year, the AA completed phase one of the East Hall food court revamp. Phase two of the refurbishment started during the year and will be completed by the third quarter of 2019. To further enhance the airport’s ambience, the AA is transforming the boarding gates in Terminal 1 into vibrant zones catering to the needs of different groups of travellers. The zones are designed around themes such as entertainment, technology, family and relaxation. New landscaping and artwork will also be installed. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

As HKIA continued to adopt a wide array of smart technology initiatives, several convenient features were added to the “HKG My Flight” mobile app. Travellers can now receive traffic congestion alerts 4 hours before their flight and use the app to pay for parking at HKIA. A chatbot has been introduced to answer questions about flights, facilities and services. The AA also piloted the use of a multifunctional robot that gathers data on environmental conditions, such as temperature, and the status of Wi-Fi and iBeacon signals in the terminal buildings.

During the year, HKIA’s leadership in the air cargo business again received global recognition on fast-growing, high-value cargo segments. In March 2019, the reliability of HKIA’s cargo services was recognised once again and became the world’s first airport community to receive IATA’s Centre of Excellence for Perishable Logistics certification for handling high-value, perishable products. This followed an AA-led, community-based certification effort that included cargo terminal operators and a Hong Kong-based airline.

The AA awarded the right to develop and manage a premium logistics centre in the South Cargo Precinct during the year. Scheduled to open in 2023, the centre will incorporate cutting-edge robotics and automation as well as temperature-controlled facilities. It is expected to help HKIA capture opportunities arising from the burgeoning cross-boundary e-commerce market and related logistics business.

Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the AA, said, “I would like to express my profound gratitude to our business partners and to the 73,000 men and women working at HKIA who helped us achieve outstanding performance again during the year. As HKIA’s businesses continue to flourish, the airport has opened a new chapter in its development — evolving from a transport hub to a mega-cluster that houses a wide spectrum of economic activities akin to a city, surrounding and radiating from the airport. The Airport City vision will guide our future development for many years to come.”

During the year, the AA acquired AsiaWorld-Expo Management Limited, the company that operates AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), a 70,000-square-metre convention centre on the airport island. Meanwhile, in May 2018 the AA awarded the right to develop and manage an integrated commercial development that will provide a maximum gross floor area of 350,000 square metres in SKYCITY. The integrated development will comprise retail, dining and entertainment facilities, scheduled to open in phases between 2023 and 2027. The AA is now planning the phase two expansion of AWE with a view to generating strong synergies between AWE and SKYCITY.

Further expanding HKIA’s extensive network, 17 new destinations were added in 2018/19, including Brussels South Charleroi, Cairo, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Darwin, Datong, Davao, Dublin, Hohhot, Krabi, Medan, Moscow Vnukovo, Nagasaki, Washington, Yancheng, Yangzhou and Yinchuan. HKIA also welcomed five new carriers: Air Belgium, EgyptAir, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Thai Smile Airways.

The AA’s Annual Report 2018/19 with finance performance was published today and can be viewed at https://www.hongkongairport.com/en/airport-authority/publications/annual-interim-reports/annual2018.

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