Hong Kong International Airport will greet a busier lunar New Year as demand by airlines for extra flight slots has exceeded last year's number with three weeks to go before the start of the holiday season.
Airlines have requested 956 additional flight slots for the holiday season, which runs from February 7 to February 23, exceeding the 952 extra flights that were laid on from January 19 to February 4 of 2001, the Airport Authority of Hong Kong reported Thursday.
The Airport Authority estimated the total number of scheduled and additional flights to be more than 9,100, a rise of about 7 percent over the 8,534 total flights last year, given the latest requests.
The busiest days at the airport are likely to be February 10 and February 17, with more than 580 flight expected on both days.
In comparison, the busiest day last year was January 24 with 565 passenger flights.
Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer David Pang was "cautiously optimistic" about the requests for additional flight slots, saying that "following on from our year-end rally in passengers and cargo, the figures for lunar New Year so far are very encouraging."
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2002)
