Passenger traffic severely affected by SARS

(HONG KONG, 13 April 2003) – The Airport Authority (AA) today warned that the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was severely affecting the core business of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

More than 30 per cent of flights had been cancelled and passenger throughput was down by more than 60 per cent in recent days.

The decline in passengers began in the second weekend of March, and flights started being cancelled the following week as the extent of the SARS epidemic became known. The effect of the war in Iraq on international air traffic also compounded the problem. The decline in flights and passengers accelerated dramatically after the World Health Organisation warned travellers in early April to postpone visits to Hong Kong and southern China.

The impact has worsened considerably since the start of April. The number of passengers has been declining almost every day this month, from just over 54,300 on 1 April to 31,700 on 10 April. This compares with a daily average of 98,600 for the same period last year. At the same time the number of daily sheduled flights has dropped from 547 to 416, compared with a daily average of 561 last year.

AA Chief Executive Officer Dr David J Pang warned that SARS has dampened people’s confidence to travel by air. “We’re in flow management business. When the flow becomes a trickle, our core business is under threat. We are feeling the impact in a strong way already,” he said. “We are trimming costs as best we can, but the reality is that a large percentage of our expenses are fixed costs.”

At the same time Dr Pang pledged that the AA would never compromise its standards of safety, security and the quality of passenger service. Hygiene maintenance had been stepped up substantially since the start of the outbreak and this would continue indefinitely, he said.

“We understand that all our business partners at HKIA are going through a difficult time. The whole airport community must band together to lessen the impact SARS is having on our industry,” Dr Pang said.

Passenger throughput in March was 2.52 million, down 14.4 per cent year-on-year. During the same period, Cargo tonnage rose 11.8 per cent to 237,000 tonnes, driven by demands in Europe and the United States. There were 18,085 aircraft movements in March, up 8.4 per cent.

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