Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) generated revenue from retail licenses and advertising of HK$3,333m ($403m) in the six months to September, a rise of +8.7%. Other terminal commercial revenue added HK$573m ($74m) up by +3%.

 

The growth – which will not have been affected by pro-democracy protests which started at the end of September – was ahead of traffic which reached 32.1m in the period, up by +5.5%. However, it was below Airport Authority Hong Kong’s (AAHK) overall revenue increase of +9.3% to HK$8,018m ($1,034m) – see table below for components.

 

Fred Lam (below), CEO of AAHK, describes the first-half 2014/15 fiscal year result as “satisfactory” and attributes it to steady growth in air traffic, prudent financial control over expenses and increasing passenger spending. In the previous full fiscal year AAHK derived HK$ 6,155m from retail.

 

DOWNTOWN RETAIL SLOWDOWN

Lam says: “Because air traffic volume at HKIA is growing at a faster-than-expected rate, we have been working on a number of projects, including the West Apron and the Midfield, to ensure that the airport is well equipped to meet its anticipated medium-term demand.”

 

William Lo Chi-chung, Executive Director, Finance of AAHK, comments: “The financial position of AAHK is very robust and we are set to take on further major infrastructure investment.” However he added a warning on retail: “We are mindful of the slowing down of retail sales in Hong Kong and the potential increase in interest rate which might bring adverse impact to the financial performance for the next six months and beyond.”

 

 

INFRASTRUCTURE UPDATE

The HK$2.2bn West Apron development is expected to be completed at the end of the year and will offer 28 new parking stands, four of them serving new aircraft types with longer fuselages such as the A380 and B747-8.

 

The five-level Midfield Concourse, located west of Terminal 1, is a core part of HKIA’s Midfield Development and will be equipped with 20 new aircraft parking stands when completed at the end of 2015.