Hong Kong International Airport had a busy January with passenger traffic reaching 4 million, up 13.5% over the same month last year. Strong pre-holiday demand from Europe and South East Asia saw cargo throughput reach 295,000 tonnes, up 8.9% from last January, while air-traffic movements rose 5.3%, to 24,800. Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui described it as a good start to the year, noting the sharp surge in visitor numbers from Europe, the Mainland, South East Asia and South Korea.

He said holiday traffic started to move early before the Lunar New Year holidays, with significant growth in the number of transfer passengers travelling between the Mainland and Taiwan and between the Mainland and destinations in South East Asia. Over the 12 months ended January, the airport handled 48.3 million passengers and 3.8 million tonnes of cargo, up 8.5% and 5.2%. Air-traffic movements recorded a year-on-year 5.7% rise, reaching 296,770