Cargo Hits Record High at Hong Kong Airport as Passenger Numbers Continue Recovery

November 16, 2003

Cargo Hits Record High at Hong Kong Airport as Passenger Numbers Continue
Recovery
Channel News Asia, Singapore


HONG KONG, : Cargo traffic at Hong Kong's international airport rose 5.1
percent to a record high of 262,000 tonnnes in October, the territory's
Airport Authority (AA) said Sunday.

Cargo rose 5.1 percent when compared with the same period a year earlier,
the AA said.

Strong cargo growth was driven by the strong recovery of the US economy
and a surge in shipping orders to the US and Europe for the Thanksgiving
and Christmas holidays, it said in a statement.

Cargo traffic for the past 12 months rose 7.9 percent to 2.59 million
tonnes which also marked a record high.

The recovery in passenger numbers after the SARS outbreak remained steady
with 2.86 million passengers passing through Chek Lap Kok airport last
month, 9.0 percent higher than September but down 5.2 percent
year-on-year.

Passenger traffic for the past 12 months reached 27.38 million.

Passenger numbers were battered during the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) crisis earlier this year as tourists and locals avoided
air travel for fear of contracting the deadly respiratory virus.

Hong Kong was removed from the blacklist of SARS-affected regions on June 23.




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