Hong Kong International Airport’s traffic figures continue to soar

Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) handled 4.92 million passengers in August, a healthy 23% rise on the corresponding month a year ago.

The gateway also registered year-on-year growth in August for both cargo volumes (+10.6%) and aircraft movements (+26.1%), handling 406,000 tonnes of cargo and 31,605 flights respectively during the month.

Airport Authority Hong Kong notes that daily passenger numbers exceeded 170,000 on several days, peaking at a post-pandemic high of 174,600 on August 18.

It reports that all passenger segments, including Hong Kong residents and visitors and transfer/ transit passengers, saw significant growth compared to the same month last year.

Traffic to and from Southeast Asia, Mainland China, and Japan recorded the most significant monthly increases.

Cargo throughput continued its consecutive double-digit year-on-year growth in August 2024. Export traffic remained the main growth driver, increasing by 14.6% compared to the same month last year.

Among key trading regions, cargo traffic to and from key trading regions in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East increased most significantly in the month.

The latest totals mean that HKG handled 34.9 million (+43.5%), 237,435 aircraft movements (+41.4%) and 3.2 million tonnes of cargo (+16.5%) respectively in the first eight months of 2024.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume rose significantly by 77.1% year-on-year to about 50.1 million, while flight movements increased by 56% to 345,615. Cargo throughput reported a growth of 15.9% to about 4.8 million tonnes.

And the figures look set to continue in an upward trajectory for the rest of the year with new airlines and destinations continuing to expand the airport’s route network.

Indonesia AirAsia and Thai Lion Air, for example, will launch new routes to Indonesia and Thailand respectively in October when HKG will also see the introduction of a new service to Riyadh.