Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)'s passenger and cargo volume continued to rise in October, further consolidating Hong Kong's status as one of the world's busiest aviation hubs, revealed latest statistics.

 

Passenger volume rose 8.5 percent year-on-year to 3.9 million in October and cargo throughput grew 3.4 percent to 329,000 tonnes, indicating a strong start for the fourth quarter, according to HKIA statistics released Sunday.

 

For the 12 months ended October 31, 2006, passenger volume grew 8.7 percent to 43.8 million. Cargo throughput rose 5.9 percent to 3.5 million tonnes and aircraft movements gained 8 percent to 279, 000.

 

HKIA Management Director Howard Eng described the destination and transfer traffic growth in October was "healthy", thanks to surging regional demand.

 

"The persistent growth over the last 10 months gives us a strong base for another record-breaking year," Eng said.

 

He said HKIA was committed to enhancing Hong Kong's status as a major international and regional aviation hub by introducing more choices for passengers, shippers and business partners.

 

Budget airliner Oasis Hong Kong Airlines became the ninth new airline to begin serving Hong Kong, also the fifth Hong Kong-based carrier and the world's first long-haul budget airline in October this year. Oasis began serving the Hong Kong-London route in October.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)