Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled approximately 197,000 passengers on Easter Sunday (April 20), setting a new post-pandemic record, while a passenger surge of more than 23 percent was recorded during the entire month, according to the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK).

The AAHK said in a statement that the airport handled 5.19 million passengers in April, a year-on-year growth of 23.2 percent, due to the extended Easter holidays which began in mid-April and boosted traffic across all passenger segments. Flight movements increased by 12.5 percent year-on-year to 32,675.

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Over the first four months of the year, passenger volume saw a year-on-year growth of 17.0 percent to 19.8 million, the AAHK added, while flight movements grew by 11.6 percent to 128,650.

Cargo volume grew to 404,000 tons in April, up 2.6 percent from the same month last year, which was underpinned by a 13.9 percent increase in transshipments.

Freight to and from Europe and the Middle East continued to be the primary growth drivers, the airport authority said, adding that cargo traffic climbed by 3.0 percent year-on-year to 1.57 million tons in the first four months of the year.

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On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume went up to 55.9 million by 20.8 percent year-on-year, while flight movements increased by 18.8 percent to 376,670. Cargo throughput logged a 9.3 percent rise to 4.98 million tons.

The AAHK also said that the airport’s connectivity was expanded as a few airlines have added new flight routes, including Cathay Pacific, HK Express and Vietnam Airlines which launched routes to Dallas, Komatsu and Ishigaki, and Nha Trang, respectively.