Travelers walk by others waiting at the departures hall as aircraft operated by Cathay Pacific Airways are taxing at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong on Feb 10, 2023. (PHOTO/AP)

Hong Kong International Airport recorded a steady recovery in passenger traffic and cargo throughput as it further expands passenger and cargo flight networks in the post-COVID-19 era.

HKIA handled 3.3 million passengers and 24,190 flight movements in September whereas passenger volume saw a fivefold year-on-year increase. Flight movements doubled from the low base during the same month in 2022, according to the Airport Authority Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways also released its traffic figure for September. The airline carried more than 1.54 million passengers last month, skyrocketing more than 480 percent compared from a year ago

Passenger traffic to and from Southeast Asia, Chinese mainland and Japan has registered the largest increases. HKIA further expanded its network last month as Qingdao Airlines will operate a new route to and from Qingdao via Huangshan.

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Cargo throughput continued to grow in September, increasing by 10 percent year-on-year to 375,000 tons. Traffic to and from key trading regions in the Middle East, Europe and North America increased significantly during the month.

Over the first nine months of the year, HKIA handled 27.7 million passengers and 192,090 flight movements, representing increases of more than 11 times and nearly double, respectively, from the low bases recorded during the same period in 2022. Cargo volume declined 1.3 percent year-on-year to 3.1 million tons of cargo.

Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways also released its traffic figure for September. The airline carried more than 1.54 million passengers last month, skyrocketing more than 480 percent compared from a year ago. The carrier also posted a 15.3 percent increase in cargo in the same period, carrying more than 119,960 tons of cargo.

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In the Sunday blog posted on October 22, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said HKIA’s transportation capacity would rebound to 80 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels by year end and be fully restored next year. When the airport’s Three-Runway System is fully operational, the runway’s capacity will increase by 50 percent and, by 2035, it will be able to handle 120 million passengers and 10 million tons of cargo annually