In this March 10, 2020 photo, a man and his dog sit near the check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport amid a novel coronavirus outbreak, which had been declared a pandemic. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

HONG KONG - The passenger volume and cargo volume at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) dropped 18.9 percent and 7.3 percent year-on-year respectively in fiscal year 2019/20, according to the latest annual report from the Airport Authority Hong Kong.

The passenger volume and cargo volume of the HKIA plunged to 60.9 million passengers and 4.7 million tons respectively. Flight movement slid 12 percent to 377,420

The report for the fiscal year which ended March 31, 2020 showed that the passenger volume and cargo volume of the HKIA plunged to 60.9 million passengers and 4.7 million tons respectively. Flight movement slid 12 percent to 377,420.

According to the report, the Airport City development continued and significant progress on all projects was achieved during the year.

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The construction of the Three-runway System (3RS) was progressing as planned, with the third runway on track to start service in 2022. The entire 3RS project, which includes new buildings and related infrastructure, is expected to be commissioned in 2024.

"We faced the double negative impact of the social unrest during the second half of 2019 and COVID-19 since early 2020," Jack So, chairman of the airport authority said. "The pandemic will pass, hopefully soon. We will continue to enhance HKIA's infrastructure and facilities which will drive the future development of the airport and contribute to Hong Kong's economic growth."

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Fred Lam, CEO of the airport authority, said that amid these challenges, the airport authority launched four rounds of relief measures worth some HK$4.6 billion (about US$593 million) for the airport community, including airlines, retailers, caterers and franchisees.

"The present downturn is unprecedented, but we are confident that when the disease subsides, air passenger demand will rebound. For this reason, we are maintaining our long-term development plans to meet future demands," Lam added.

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