(HONG KONG, 24 July 2011) – Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) continues to see a steady increase in the number of passengers and air traffic movements in the first half of the year, during which HKIA welcomed 25.8 million passengers and recorded 162,485 flight movements, representing growth of 5.7% and 12.1% respectively over the same period last year. Cargo volume saw a 2.3% year-on-year decline with a total of 1.9 million tonnes during the first six months.

The growth is well supported by strong performance in June. The number of passengers and flight movements in HKIA reached 4.4 million and 27,085 respectively in the month, an increase of 5.8% and 9.3% over the same month last year. A total of 321,000 tonnes of cargo was handled during the month, a year-on-year decrease of 7.6%.

The growth in passenger traffic in June was mainly driven by visitor traffic and Hong Kong resident travel which registered a growth of 8% and 7% respectively over the same period last year. Passenger traffic to/from South East Asia performed particularly well.

The decline of cargo throughput in June was mainly attributed to the 10% drop in exports and imports compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, transshipments grew by 3% over the same period last year. Europe, North America and Taiwan experienced double-digit year-on-year declines.

Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said it is encouraging to see the steady growth of passengers and flight movements in the first half of the year. "Over the past six months, we have seen air traffic movements set a new daily record, and five new airlines started operating in HKIA. The promising performance reaffirms HKIA's status as the international and regional aviation hub and a preferred gateway to the Mainland."

The five new airlines included Indonesia AirAsia, South East Asian Airlines, Mega Maldives, Air Busan and MIAT Mongolian Airlines. In addition, our extensive international network was further enriched by