HONG KONG. Air China has today started a daily scheduled service between Hong Kong and Hangzhou, bringing to 12 the number of daily flights between the two cities.
The new service follows the signing of an agreement between Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) and Hangzhou International Airport (HXIA) to form a new joint-venture company. The deal was signed on 15 April.
“We are very confident of the growth potential of Hangzhou Airport,” commented AA CEO Dr David Pang. “Today’s inaugural flight marks a further step in the implementation of the air-bridge concept to link the two airports and to foster closer ties between the Pearl River and Yangtze River Deltas, thus bringing economic value to the two regions.”
Air China Hong Kong Office Managing Director and General Manager He Zhixiu said: “The demand for business and leisure travel between Hong Kong and Hangzhou and the wider Zhejiang Province has been surging, and we are glad to play a part in this lucrative market.
“Hangzhou is strategically located in Zhejiang Province, the fastest-growing economic region in the mainland, which offers an almost incessant source of customers to operators in the aviation business.”
AA Commercial Director Hans Bakker added: “Air China’s Hangzhou flight service further strengthens our link with the mainland. In the first four months of this year Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has already increased services to Nanning, Xiamen and Fuzhou.”
Passenger numbers up
The new HXIA/HKIA service comes at a time when passenger traffic in Hong Kong is booming. The number of passengers passing through HKIA in March 2005 increased by +17.5% year-on-year to reach over 3.3 million.
According to AA, the strong growth was driven mainly by leisure travel by local residents during the Easter holiday, which fell in March instead of the usual April. A new HKIA record of 786 flight movements for a single day was set on 25 March, the start of the Easter holiday.
In the 12 months to March 2005 passenger traffic at HKIA shot up by +38.4% to 38.3 million.
Another award
HKIA’s dynamism was recognised on 13 April when it won the Skytrax Airport of the Year Award for the fifth consecutive year.
Skytrax’s 2005 World Airport Awards Survey was conducted globally from June 2004 to March 2005, attracting more than 5.5 million respondents of over 90 nationalities. The award came just a matter of weeks after being named best airport worldwide in the latest AETRA survey (as reported by The Moodie Report on 23 March).
Pang said he was extremely pleased with the results of the two international surveys: “We are delighted that our service standard has received the recognition and appreciation of travellers around the world.”
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