Economic crisis hits passengers, cargo through Hong Kong airport

The number of passengers travelling through Hong Kong's airport dropped 4.7 percent year-on-year in September as the global financial crisis hits the aviation industry, the airport authority said.
Figures from the Hong Kong Airport Authority showed 3.6 million passengers came through the city's airport during the month compared with 3.8 million a year earlier.
Cargo also dropped, with 317,000 tonnes handled in September, down 7.5 percent on the previous year, the authority's figures showed.
The number of flights edged down 0.4 percent to 24,570.
The reduction in passengers was mainly the result of fewer visitors to the territory, while travel by Hong Kong residents and transit passengers also decreased slightly, the figures showed.
On the cargo front, the decline was widespread, including import, export and trans-shipment.
"The steep decline in traffic volumes in both passenger and air cargo clearly reflected a very troubled global economy as a result of the financial tsunami, which has affected all countries in the world," Stanley Hui, chief executive officer of the airport authority said in a statement released Sunday.