HKIA Records Significant Growth in Passenger and Cargo Traffic in March

(HONG KONG, 23 April 2024, 1430hrs) – Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) today released the air traffic figures for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for March 2024. During the month, HKIA handled 4.36 million passengers and 29,840 flight movements, representing year-on-year increases of 56.7% and 48.2%, respectively.

Partly driven by the long Easter holidays starting at the end of March, all passenger segments saw growth. Traffic to and from Southeast Asia, Mainland China and Japan recorded the most significant increases during the month.

Cargo throughput registered a year-on-year increase of 15.1% to 428,000 tonnes in March. HKIA has now posted double-digit year-on-year growth in cargo each month in 2024, on the back of another successful year in 2023 for which HKIA was once again named the busiest cargo airport in the world by Airports Council International. Export traffic was again the main driver in March, recording a 23.7% increase compared to the same month last year. Among key trading regions, cargo traffic to and from North America, Europe and the Middle East rose most significantly during the month.

For the first quarter of the year, the airport handled 12.7 million passengers, marking an increase of 81.7% compared to the low base during the same period in 2023. Flight movements registered a year-on-year increase of 63.7% to 86,210. Cargo volume rose by 18.9% year-on-year to more than 1.1 million tonnes.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume was 45.2 million, or 264.5% higher than the previous comparable period. Flight movements and cargo throughput saw year-on-year increases of 92.1% and 9.1% to 309,650 and 4.5 million tonnes, respectively.

As traffic maintained its growth trajectory, AAHK continued to receive international and local recognition for its on-going efforts to leverage innovative technologies and knowledge management systems for greater operational efficiency. AAHK recently received the “Most Innovative Knowledge Enterprise (MIKE) Award 2023” in both the Global and Hong Kong categories as well as ‘‘The Best in Technology Deployment Award” and “Top Winners” distinction in the Hong Kong MIKE Awards 2023.

Vivian Cheung, Chief Operating Officer of AAHK, said, “We are honoured to receive these awards, which recognise our innovative approach to knowledge management and providing quality service to passengers. We will continue to identify and incorporate the latest innovations in airport management to further enhance the efficiency of our operations and provide passengers with a pleasant airport journey.”