Hong Kong International Airport records slight growth in passenger and cargo volume in April of 2016

The growth in passenger traffic in April was mainly driven by 8% year-on-year growth in transfer / transit traffic and 7% growth in visitor traffic. Passenger traffic to / from Japan and Mainland China recorded the most significant increases.

The growth in cargo throughput last month was mainly attributed to a 10% year-on-year growth in transshipments. Traffic to / from key trading regions in Europe and Mainland China increased most significantly in the month.

Balancing out the impact of Easter holidays falling on a different month last year, the combined passenger total for March and April showed a 3% year-on-year growth. Flight movements increased moderately by 1%.

Henry Ma, General Manager, Market and Connectivity Development of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said, “We are delighted to welcome three upcoming new destinations which further enhance the extensive flight network of HKIA. Hong Kong Airlines will introduce direct twice-weekly passenger services to Kuching of Malaysia at the end of May. In June, Cathay Pacific will launch direct passenger flights to Madrid of Spain four times weekly, and Hong Kong Express will operate direct flights to Ishigaki of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan twice weekly.”

During the first four months of 2016, HKIA handled 23.5 million passengers and 136,590 flight movements – up 5.9% and 3.0% respectively from the same period last year. Cargo traffic decreased by 2.3% to 1.4 million tonnes.

On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 69.8 million passengers and 410,000 flight movements, marking year-on-year increases of 7.2% and 3.3% respectively, while cargo throughput declined 1.2% to 4.35 million tonnes.