SINGAPORE: Changi Airport said on Thursday (Sep 26) its passenger traffic for Hong Kong declined 14 per cent year-on-year last month even as most regions registered growth.
Overall, the airport handled 5.9 million passenger movements in August, a 3.8 per cent year-on-year increase.
AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile its South Asia traffic dipped 2 per cent, Northeast Asia traffic recorded a 5 per cent increase, with China (+8 per cent), Japan (+14 per cent) and South Korea (+19 per cent) registering year-on-year growth – the latter benefiting from additional capacity on the Busan route, said the airport in a media release.
Among Changi’s top 10 city destinations, Bali (Denpasar), Shanghai and Tokyo registered double-digit growth.
Aircraft movements fell 1.6 per cent to 32,400 landings and take-offs, while air freight throughput declined 8 per cent to 169,000 tonnes, compared to the same period last year.
[h=3]READ: Hong Kong August visitors plunge 40%, hotels half-full: Finance chief[/h] AdvertisementAdvertisement[h=3]READ: Airlines ask Hong Kong to waive airport fees as demand drops[/h]August's fall in passenger traffic for Hong Kong comes amid months of sometimes violent protests in the city, with airlines reporting sharp drops in traveller demand.
Earlier this month, scores of airlines wrote jointly to the city's government to seek airport fee waivers as they struggle to deal with the financial fallout.
Cathay Pacific said it has seen a double-digit drop in passengers for August compared with last year, and expects this to get worse in the remaining months of the year.
Hit by a drop in demand, Qantas Airways has also switched to smaller planes on the Hong Kong route.
[h=3]READ: Our coverage of the Hong Kong protests[/h]The world's eighth-largest airport for passenger traffic in 2017, Hong Kong's airport has said passenger numbers fell 11.5 per cent in August.
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