Take-offs and landings at the city’s airport reached a post-pandemic high in January, the Airport Authority Hong Kong has said.
Arrivals at the Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
The authority said in a press statement on Monday that flight movements reached around 33,660 in January.
The airport handled over 193,000 passengers on a single day on January 25, also a record since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020.
“In January 2025, all passenger segments, including Hong Kong residents, visitors and transfer/transit passengers, experienced double-digit year-on-year increases in comparison with the same month last year,” the Airport Authority wrote.
“Traffic to and from Southeast Asia, the Mainland and Japan recorded the most significant increases during the month,” it added.
Hong Kong’s airport as an aviation hub took a major hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, when strict testing rules and mandatory quarantine periods in place for over three years meant airlines cut their routes to and from the city.
A Cathay Pacific plane at the Hong Kong International Airport. File photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.
Airport traffic figures have struggled to recover since. Last year, the city saw 53.1 million passengers and 363,305 flight movements, down from 71.5 million passengers and 419,730 flight movements in 2019, even as the city was engulfed in anti-extradition protests and unrest.
In January, the airport handled 5.28 million passengers, down more than 20 per cent compared to January 2019, when the airport saw 6.48 million passengers.
Hong Kong failed to meet its tourism forecast last year. The Hong Kong Tourism Board predicted 46 million visitor arrivals, but the city saw only 44.5 million.
Last December, authorities published the “Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0,” analysing the tourism sector and proposing strategies to promote the industry.
The blueprint cites tourism competition and geopolitical factors as among the challenges faced by the sector, but describes Beijing’s support for Hong Kong and emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East as opportunities that the city enjoys.
