Traffic at Hong Kong Airport (HKG) on the rise as it prepares for Chinese New Year

HONG KONG: -- Hong Kong International Airport has taken time out from its preprations for the Chinese New Year to announce a 1.8% upturn in passenger traffic during January 2015.

The upturn is doubly impressive as the Chinese New Year, traditionally one of its busiest times of the year, fell in January last year.

In total, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 5.2 million passengers (+1.8%), 33,385 aircraft movements (+2.1%) and 356,000 tonnes of cargo (+1.6%) during the month.

Operator, Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) reveals that the growth in passenger numbers was mainly driven by 12% year-on-year growth in transfer/transit traffic.

Passenger traffic to/from North Asia and Southeast Asia recorded the most significant increases.

The growth in cargo throughput last month was driven by imports and trans-shipments, which were up 10% and 7%, respectively, from a year ago.

During the month, cargo throughput to/from North America and Southeast Asia increased most significantly compared to other key regions.

Vivian Cheung, deputy director of airport operations at Airport Authority Hong Kong, says: "With the full co-operation of the airport community, HKIA is prepared for the traffic peak during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays.

"This year, the airport will handle over 650 additional flights during the Chinese New Year period, with Bangkok, Bali and Phuket being the most popular destinations for these additional flights.”

To celebrate the festive season, HKIA claims that it will launch a range of activities to "delight and entertain passengers".

They will include traditional lion dances, face changing and musical performances while Chinese New Year decorations will liven up the terminal buildings.

It says that the 'God of fortune' will also greet travellers in Terminal 1 to take instant photos with visitors and hand out Chinese New Year gifts to share blessings of luck and good fortune.

On a rolling 12-month basis, flight movements registered a year-on-year increase of 4.6%, amounting to 391,655 movements. Passenger traffic rose 5% to 63.4 million, while cargo volume showed an increase of 1.6% to 356,000 tonnes during the month.

-- AirportWorld.com 2015-02-16

Interesting data from the CCP authorities in Hong Kong, which is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, not a province, and that remains the country's principal financial center.

The CCP Boyz in Beijing also include inflow of foreign capital to HKG as a part of the mainland statistical FDI and GDP data when they in fact cannot do this because HKG is offshore from the mainland, even though it is a part of the PRChina. Beijing of course disguises the inclusion of the HKG data as a part of the mainland FDI and GDP data. In other words, Beijing lies.

The false data helps the Boyz in Beijing to try to mitigate somewhat their overall FDI data, to minimize the gaping imbalance due to massive outflows of FDI from the mainland that began in 2012 and which now have become a torrent as investors foreign and domestic flee the collapsing economy of the PRChina.

Expect the HKG Airport passenger traffic data and any other HKG data to be of the same nature, this year especially. Deflation is taking hold in the PRC due to the reduction in spending by PRC consumers who are hanging onto their money.

PRC household income as a percentage of GDP continues to lag as do economic reforms as does GDP growth, the latter last year being around 4% and not the 7.3% reported by the CCP Boyz in Beijing. The Boyz report their GDP data each January while Western economies in contrast report GDP data late in Q1 and revise it two or three times during H1 often carrying GDP revisions over into Q3.