Hong Kong International Airport expects to achieve modest traffic growth in 2013, after reporting slower passenger traffic growth last year than in 2011.
HONG KONG- Growth was not that bad for Hong Kong, Asia’s largest airport for its international passengers’ volume. The Chinese airport welcomed last year 56.5 million passengers, up by 4.7%. In 2011, passengers’ volume still grew by almost six percent.
“We are cautiously optimistic about achieving mild traffic growth at Hong Kong International Airport in 2013,” commented Airport Authority chief executive Stanley Hui Hon-chung to the local newspaper South China Morning Post.
In December, the increase in passenger traffic was driven mainly by travel by Hong Kong residents, which rose 7 per cent from the same month last year.
The euro zone’s debt problems and weak US economy will persist, but that will be offset by strong economic growth on the mainland and in Southeast Asia, which will boost traffic, he said.
Thanks to a rebound over the past five months, the airport handled four million tonnes of cargo during the year, 2.2 per cent more than 2011. In contrast, cargo volume dropped 4.6 per cent in 2011. “Despite the challenging global economic environment, regional economic growth continued to drive traffic increases at Hong Kong International Airport in 2012,” Hui said.
“This past year, we welcomed nine new airlines and expanded our global network to about 170 destinations”, added Hong Kong International Airport CEO.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
