Records tumble as HKIA traffic soars

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) achieved another record-breaking year in 2016, experiencing its highest ever levels of passenger traffic, flight movements and cargo traffic.

Last year, HKIA handled a total of 70.5 million passengers and 411,530 flight movements, representing year-on-year growth of 2.9% and 1.4%, respectively. Cargo throughput increased by 3.2% to a record 4.52m tonnes.

HKIA also set new a new record of 1,270 take-offs and landings in a single day in 2016.

The airport welcomed five new airlines in 2016 – Austrian Airlines, Bismillah Airlines, Malindo Air, T’way Air and VietJet Air – while the airport became connected to eight new destinations: Madrid, Saipan, London Gatwick, Nha Trang, Chiang Rai, Ishigaki, Takamatsu and Yonago.

“We are delighted to see another record-breaking year of growth, and we must thank our more than 73,000 colleagues of the airport community for their concerted efforts in achieving this remarkable accomplishment, which will further strengthen HKIA’s leading position as an international and regional aviation hub,” said Fred Lam, CEO of Hong Kong’s Airport Authority.

Efforts are being made to expand HKIA, with the new Midfield Concourse having opened in 2016 and plans for a third runway, which is being created on a new manmade island in the Pearl River Delta, also progressing.

“To meet the medium- and long-term growth demands of today’s aviation landscape, we are pushing forward a number of developments at HKIA, including the expansion of Terminal 1 and the three-runway system, said Lam. “We are also launching the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy this year, providing various courses to nurture talent for the industry.

“We will continue to work closely with our business partners to maintain smooth operations and a world-class travel experience for our passengers,” he concluded.

While not all airport traffic figures have yet been released, HKIA is likely to have been the world’s eighth busiest airport and the third busiest in Asia Pacific in 2016, after Beijing Capital and Tokyo Haneda.