HKIA chief warns of difficult times ahead
HONG KONG – Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 3.6 million passengers in September 2008, declining 4.7% from the same month last year.
Reduction in passenger traffic came mostly from visitor traffic while travel by Hong Kong residents and transfer/transit passenger numbers decreased slightly.
Stanley Hui, CEO of the Airport Authority, said, “The steep decline in traffic volumes in both passenger and air cargo clearly reflected a very troubled global economy as a result of the financial tsunami, which has affected all countries in the world.â€
Hui said the National Day Golden Week holiday also brought fewer numbers of visitors to Hong Kong by air this year than 2007, showing a continuing decline in traffic between Hong Kong and Mainland China as well.
“Given the very difficult operating environment and shrinking demand in the economic slowdown, airlines are expected to further scale back their operations or put on hold their expansion plans.
“The aviation industry is expected to face even more difficult times in the coming months,” Hui added.
Air traffic figures for the first nine months of this year recorded mild growth over the same period in 2007. Passenger volume rose 3.7% to 36.7 million..
There may be fewer passengers but HKIA intends to make the check-in process smoother and quicker. It has installed 42 “Self check-in†kiosks available at Terminal 1.
Ian Jarrett
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