Hong Kong International Airport experienced a small rise in passenger traffic in the first two months the year, despite a decline in the number of flights.
In January and February 2017, HKIA handled a total of 11.7 million passengers, up 1% year-on-year. But take-offs and landing declined 1.9% to 66,550, reflecting the increasing average size of aircraft operating at HKIA.
Combining the two months of figures cancels out the effect of the Chinese New Year, which fell in different months in 2016 and 2017.
The combined growth of passenger volume in the two-month period was largely driven by Hong Kong residents, with a 6% increase in travel by locals, and in terms of routes, traffic to and from destinations in Japan experienced the strongest growth.
On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 70.6 million passengers and 410,255 flight movements, up 1.7% and 0.2% respectively.
