HKIA Reports 12.4% Decline in Passenger Numbers in August 2019

According to figures published by Airport Authority Hong Kong on Sunday, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 6.0 million passengers and 35,655 air traffic movements in August 2019, representing year-on-year declines of 12.4% and 3.5% respectively.

Passenger traffic to and from Mainland China, Southeast Asia and Taiwan experienced the largest  declines in numbers when compared to August 2018.

Cargo throughput dropped 11.5% year-on-year to 382,000 tonnes in August. Transshipments and imports declined by 19% and 15% year-on-year, respectively. The figures for Southeast Asia and Mainland China decreased most significantly among key trading regions.

Protests in Hong Kong have become increasingly violent in recent weeks, and protestors even managed to close the airport, one of the busiest in the world, for almost two days. The protestors have also caused damage to property and disrupted public transport and roads, not only within the city, but also to and from the airport. Hotels have also been badly affected with RevPAR down by over 44.5% and arrivals to the city down by nearly 40% in August. On Friday, organisers of the Hong Kong Tennis Open, which had been scheduled to take place take 5-13 October, postponed the event until further notice.

C K Ng, Executive Director, Airport Operations of the Airport Authority said, “In the past few months, there have been huge challenges to airport operations at times. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the airport community, we managed to maintain normal operations and minimise impact on travellers. I would like to express my gratitude to all airport staff who continue to perform their duties with admirable professionalism and dedication.”

Over the first eight months of the year, HKIA handled 50.6 million passengers and 285,495 air traffic movements, up 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Cargo throughput recorded 3.08 million, down 7.4% compared to the same period last year.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume and flight movements grew by 0.4% and 0.3% to 74.8 million and 428,290, respectively, while cargo throughput recorded 4.9 million tonnes, a decrease of 5.3% year-on-year.

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