Hong Kong Airport records double-digit passenger growth in May

Dhaka: Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recorded steady growth across key traffic metrics in May, with passenger numbers climbing 10.2% year-on-year to 5.34 million. Flight movements rose 3.6% to 33,655, while cargo volume grew 3.0% to 435,000 tonnes.

Transfer and transit passengers led overall passenger growth with a double-digit increase, followed by visitors. Daily traffic peaked at 204,000 passengers on May 1, coinciding with the Chinese Mainland's Labor Day "Golden Week" holiday. By region, growth was led by the Chinese Mainland, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

Cargo growth was primarily driven by transshipment, which surged 23.2% year-on-year, with imports up 1.2%. Performance varied by region, with gains in the Chinese Mainland and Southeast Asia offsetting declines in markets such as India. The Middle East posted modest growth — its first expansion since the outbreak of regional conflicts in March.

HKIA's global network continued to expand. Delta Air Lines returned to the airport with new services between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, offering seven weekly flight pairs from June 8, bolstering connectivity with North America. Sun PhuQuoc Airways launched new services to Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam, while Hong Kong Airlines introduced a new route to Lanzhou.

For the first five months of the year, passenger volume rose 12.5% year-on-year to 27.7 million, with flight movements up 4.8% to 168,745. Cargo throughput grew 3.6% to 2.06 million tonnes compared to the same period last year.

On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 64.0 million passengers and 402,415 flight movements, reflecting year-on-year increases of 13.0% and 6.1%, respectively. Cargo volume on the same basis grew 3.0% to 5.14 million tonnes.