Hong Kong International Airport handled 5.6m (+7.5%) passengers in December and 63.4m (+55.8%) in 2014.

 

Airport Authority of Hong Kong (AAHK) said all three traffic categories achieved new annual records, with 63.4m (+5.8%) passengers for the full calendar year, 390,955 flight movements (+5.1%) and cargo at 4.38m tonnes (+6%).

 

Approximately 2.76m passengers made use of the SkyPier to travel between HKIA and eight ports in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), representing yearly growth of 3.26%. Nearly two million passengers also hired limousine and coach services travelling between HKIA and PRD destinations.

 

Airport Authority said that the December growth in passenger traffic was mainly driven by a 14% year-on-year growth in Transfer/Transit traffic and an 11% growth in Hong Kong resident traffic. Passenger traffic to/from North Asia and Southeast Asia recorded the most significant increases.

 

The growth in cargo throughput last month was driven by trans-shipments, which were up 7% from a year ago. During the month, cargo throughput to/from North America and Southeast Asia increased most significantly compared to other key regions.

 

 

Commenting, Fred Lam, CEO of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said: “We are pleased to see HKIA achieving another record breaking year in 2014, which further strengthens its leading position as an international and regional aviation hub, supporting the economic growth of Hong Kong.”

 

“We have also seen new daily records in all three traffic categories last year, reaching about 210,000 passengers, over 16,000 tonnes of cargo and 1,178 flight movements. We are very proud that HKIA is one of the very few airports in the world that ranks near the top in both passenger and cargo volumes.

 

“Air traffic demand continues to grow, and we expect 4-6% growth in passengers, cargo volumes and flight movements this year. We will continue to enhance airport facilities and services, and work closely with HKIA’s business partners to maintain a world-class travel experience for our passengers,” concluded Lam.

 

In 2014, HKIA also welcomed three new carriers, including American Airlines, Siam Air and Vanilla Air, which it says, helped extend its international reach to 180 destinations around the world.