Hong Kong International Airport Reports Steady Growth in 2018/19

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) welcomed 75.1 million passengers and handled 428,870 flight movements in 2018/19, registering year-on-year increases of 2% and 1.3%, respectively.

Total cargo volume reached 5.06 million tonnes, securing HKIA’s status as the world’s busiest cargo airport for the ninth consecutive year.

Jack So Chak-kwong, Chairman of Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA), said, “Over the past two decades, HKIA has made significant contributions to Hong Kong, driving its growth as an international city. Through the continuous development of our passenger and cargo services, the expansion of our cross-boundary multimodal transport network, and the growth of commercial and other facilities around the airport, HKIA is poised to transform from a city airport into an Airport City in the coming years.”

During the year, HKIA carried out various expansion projects to meet growing air traffic demand. The Three-runway System (3RS) project continues to make progress and the AA is proceeding with the plan to commission the new Third-runway by 2022 and the entire 3RS by the end of 2024.

The AA is also carrying out a series of major enhancements of existing airport facilities, including the construction of Terminal 1 Annex Building, which provides 48 additional check-in counters, two baggage reclaim carousels, more restaurants and shops.

During the fiscal year, phase one of the East Hall food court revamp was completed. Phase two of the refurbishment started during the year and will be completed by the third quarter of 2019.

As HKIA continued to adopt a wide array of smart technology initiatives, several convenient features were added to the “HKG My Flight” mobile app. Travellers can now receive traffic congestion alerts 4 hours before their flight and use the app to pay for parking at HKIA. A chatbot has been introduced to answer questions about flights, facilities and services. The AA also piloted the use of a multifunctional robot that gathers data on environmental conditions, such as temperature, and the status of Wi-Fi and iBeacon signals in the terminal buildings.

The Airport Authority was awarded the right to develop and manage a premium logistics centre in the South Cargo Precinct during the year. Scheduled to open in 2023, the centre will incorporate cutting-edge robotics and automation as well as temperature-controlled facilities. It is expected to help HKIA capture opportunities arising from the burgeoning cross-boundary e-commerce market and related logistics business.

Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the AA, said, “I would like to express my profound gratitude to our business partners and to the 73,000 men and women working at HKIA who helped us achieve outstanding performance again during the year. As HKIA’s businesses continue to flourish, the airport has opened a new chapter in its development — evolving from a transport hub to a mega-cluster that houses a wide spectrum of economic activities akin to a city, surrounding and radiating from the airport. The Airport City vision will guide our future development for many years to come.”

Further expanding HKIA’s extensive network, 17 new destinations were added in 2018/19, including Brussels South Charleroi, Cairo, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Darwin, Datong, Davao, Dublin, Hohhot, Krabi, Medan, Moscow Vnukovo, Nagasaki, Washington, Yancheng, Yangzhou and Yinchuan. HKIA also welcomed five new carriers: Air Belgium, EgyptAir, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Thai Smile Airways (pictured).

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