HKIA Passenger Volume, Flight Movements Set New Monthly Records in August

Passenger volume and flight movements at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reached new monthly highs in August. During the month, passenger volume climbed 5.2% year-on-year to 6.8 million, while flight movements increased 3.8% to 36,950. Cargo and airmail throughput reached 431,000 tonnes, increasing 2.4% compared to the same month last year.

Hong Kong resident travel, which saw an 8% year-on-year increase in August, continued to be the main driver of passenger traffic growth. During the month visitor traffic also grew, posting a 5% rise. Overall passenger traffic to and from Mainland China, Japan and Europe recorded the most significant increases.

The airport saw strong 9% year-on-year growth in transshipments, which contributed the most to the increase in cargo throughput. Amongst key trading regions, traffic to and from North America and Southeast Asia posted the most significant growth.

Over the first eight months of 2018, HKIA handled 50.4 million passengers and 3.3 million tonnes of cargo and airmail, representing year-on-year increases of 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively. Flight movements increased 2.3% to 284,945 compared to the same period last year.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume and flight movements grew by 4.2% and 2.9% to 74.5 million and 427,135, respectively, while cargo and airmail throughput recorded 5.1 million tonnes, surging 4.2% year on year.

Separately, HKIA's official mobile app, “HKG My Flight”, and the “MyTAG” smart luggage tag launched by the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) won award in the “Software and Mobile App Category – Outstanding International Airport Mobile App” at the Digital Brand Awards 2018 presented by the Chamber of Hong Kong Computer Industry and Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited. The award is determined by votes from different sectors, including professionals of the IT sector.

Chris Au Young, General Manager, Smart Airport for the AA, said, “It is an honour to receive this award. The HKG My Flight mobile app is a one-stop portal providing comprehensive information about airport services for passengers including real-time flight information, status updates for saved flights, indoor wayfinding and more. The mobile app together with MyTAG, the AA’s smart luggage tag, can give passengers who are arriving at HKIA notifications of when their checked bags are about to arrive at the baggage reclaim carousel. We also recently launched additional new features on the app, including a chatbot function that answers general enquiries related to flight information, airport facilities, and shopping and dining offers. A road traffic notification function is also introduced to alert passengers on any traffic congestion on major road trunks to or from the airport, which enables them to have a better planning for their journey.”