HONG KONG. Passenger traffic at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) fell by -5% year-on-year in 2009 to 46.1 million, Airport Authority Hong Kong has revealed. Air traffic movements dipped by -7.2% in the year to 279,505.
Traffic in the fourth quarter decreased by just -0.2% compared to the same period last year, which compares favourably with the Q1-Q3 year-on-year declines of -7.1%, -9.2% and -3.5%.
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In December, passenger traffic posted a healthy +3.4% increase to 4.18 million, which was mainly attributed to the +16% year-on-year growth in travel by Hong Kong residents. Visitor numbers grew +4% in the month while transfer/transit passengers declined by -6%. The number of air traffic movements in December reached 24,225, representing a year-on-year drop of -2.1%.
Airport Authority Hong Kong CEO Stanley Hui Hon-chung said: “Hong Kong’s aviation industry faced a number of challenges in 2009. We saw contractions in all three air traffic categories, which were due in large part to the global financial crisis that began in the latter part of 2008. The outbreak of H1N1 and the gradual increase in the number of cross-strait direct flights also had negative effects on HKIA.
“In addition, volatile fuel prices, yield erosion from significantly reduced demand in front-end business traffic, and low cargo yields for most of 2009 caused airlines to reduce frequencies and suspend services to destinations, which continued to result in financial losses.”
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Celebrating the official opening of the new SkyPier and North Satellite Concourse were (left to right) Stanley Hui Hon-chung, CEO, Airport Authority Hong Kong; Guo Li, Deputy Director, Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the HKSAR; Dr Marvin Cheung Kin-tung, Chairman of the Airport Authority; and Pu Zhaozhou, Director, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Civil Aviation Administration of China |
Hui said the improvements in air traffic figures for the last quarter, especially in comparison with the first three quarters, indicate that business is gradually flowing back to HKIA. He noted that airlines have also been increasing or restoring flight frequencies that had been previously suspended. Hui said he expected a return to traffic growth in 2010.
In other HKIA news, the airport officially opened two new facilities last Friday: the SkyPier, a new cross-boundary ferry terminal; and the North Satellite Concourse, which is equipped with ten parking stands for narrow-bodied aircraft. The facilities were soft-opened in mid-December.
“The new SkyPier and North Satellite Concourse are part of HKIA’s near-term growth projects to enhance service levels and meet future demand,” said Airport Authority Hong Kong Chairman Dr Marvin Cheung Kin-tung at the opening ceremony. “The SkyPier efficiently conveys passengers travelling between the Pearl River Delta and the world via HKIA, while the North Satellite Concourse enables about 98% of our passengers to embark and disembark airplanes in an indoor, weatherproof environment.”
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Designed to handle 8 million passengers a year, the 16,500sq m SkyPier is eight times the size of the previous facility |
Travellers using the SkyPier – including international passengers and PRD residents – are not required to go through immigration and customs formalities at HKIA, thus cutting travel time and making their air-to-sea or sea-to-air transfers easier.
Passengers en route for overseas destinations via HKIA’s SkyPier are also exempt from paying the HK$120 Hong Kong Airport Departure Tax.
The new SkyPier replaces a temporary building opened in 2003, created to ease the movement of passengers between HKIA and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region.
The 20,000sq m North Satellite Concourse was built to serve the rising number of narrow-bodied aircraft using HKIA. With the new concourse fewer than ten flights now need to park at remote bays every day, compared with 40-50 in the past.
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The 20,000sq m North Satellite Concourse is equipped with ten bridge-served stands |
Stanley Hui Hon-chung said the authority is also working on developing the midfield area of HKIA and the long-term HKIA Master Plan 2030. “By being able to meet future aviation demand, Hong Kong can maintain its position as a leading international and regional aviation centre and the preferred gateway to the Mainland,” he said.
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