Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) said it had a successful 2014, setting new daily and annual records in all three traffic categories last year.
Cargo throughput rose 6% year-on-year, reaching a record of 4.38 million tonnes. Meanwhile, passenger volume totaled 63.4 million and flight movements handled reached 390,955, representing annual growth of 5.8% and 5.1%, respectively.
Fred Lam, chief executive officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said, “We have also seen new daily records in all three traffic categories last year, reaching about 210,000 passengers, over 16,000 tonnes of cargo and 1,178 flight movements.”
For December 2014, all three traffic categories experienced steady growth, with flight movements setting a new monthly record of 34,235 to beat the previous record set in August 2014 and registering 4.2% growth compared to the same month in 2013.
The number of passengers reached 5.6 million, climbing 7.5% compared to December 2013, while cargo volume rose 3.1% year-on-year to 387,000 tonnes.
The growth in passenger traffic in December was mainly driven by a 14% year-on-year growth in transfer and transit traffic and an 11% growth in Hong Kong resident traffic. Passenger traffic to and from North Asia and Southeast Asia recorded the most significant increases.
The growth in cargo throughput last month was driven by transshipments, which were up 7% from a year ago. During the month, cargo throughput to and from North America and Southeast Asia increased most significantly compared to other key regions.
In 2014, HKIA also welcomed three new airlines, namely, American Airlines, Siam Air, and Vanilla Air, helping extend its flight network to 180 destinations around the world.
“Air traffic demand continues to grow, and we expect 4-6% growth in passengers, cargo volumes and flight movements this year,” said Lam.
Photo: deror_avi
