Boosted by continually strong demand, passenger and cargo throughput in November at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) registered year-on-year increases of 8.1% and 7.1%, growing to 4.1 million and 368,000 tonnes respectively. Air traffic movements also rose by 13.9% to 26,765.

The growth in passenger traffic last month was mainly driven by visitors and Hong Kong residents, which showed year-on-year growth of 10% and 9% respectively. Passenger volume in all key regions recorded positive growth from a year ago, with South East Asia performing particularly well. Transfer/ transit passengers increased by 6% over the same month last year.

On the cargo front, the continuous growth in total cargo throughput was fueled by year-on-year growth of 10%, 7% and 5% in transshipments, exports and imports. Among all the markets, North America and Europe continued their strong momentum with double-digit growth.

Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said, "With market demand continuing to be strong, we are anticipating a busy holiday season for the coming Christmas and new year. An average of more than 150,000 passengers will travel through HKIA every day, and on peak days we expect to serve a record level of close to 170,000 passengers. As usual, in preparation for the busy travel season, we are working closely with our business partners at HKIA to ensure that airport operations remain smooth and efficient, including the deployment of additional staff to maintain high-quality passenger service."

The airport has already kick-started a variety of roving and stage activities to celebrate the festive season with passengers. These include music ensembles, Christmas carol singing, dance performances and magic shows in terminals 1 and 2.

For the first 11 months of 2010, HKIA has handled a cumulative total of 46.5 million passengers and 3.8 million tonnes of cargo, increasing 10.7% and 24.8% from a year ago. Air traffic movements have also gone up 9.3% to 278,820.