Hong Kong Airport reports sharp drop in traffic

Hong Kong’s international airport said today it had recorded a sharp drop in passenger and cargo traffic amid the global economic crisis.

The airport said in a statement passenger numbers dropped 4.7% last month from September 2007 to 3.6 million people.

Cargo traffic fell 7.5% to 317,000 tonnes.

The statement quoted Airport Authority Chief Executive Stanley Hui as saying the steep declines “clearly reflected a very troubled global economy”.

Hui said air cargo traffic to and from the US and Europe had suffered a “significant” drop.

He said he expected airlines to scale back operations and postpone expansion plans as the aviation industry faced more difficult times in the coming months.