Hong Kong airport sees passenger growth continue in August

Hong Kong International Airport handled 5.86 million passengers in August 2026, a 3.5% increase on the same month a year earlier, while aircraft movements edged up 0.5% to 34,995.

The airport recorded more than 210,000 passengers on August 1, its busiest day of this summer's travel peak, excluding days when flights were rescheduled because of bad weather. Transfer and transit passengers again drove the increase, posting double-digit growth. Traffic to and from the Chinese Mainland and South Korea led the rise, and the decline in Middle East traffic eased further.

Over the first eight months of the year, passenger volume grew 10.1% year on year to 44.3 million, with movements up 3.5% to 269,900. On a rolling 12-month basis, passenger numbers reached 65.0 million, up 11.4%, and flight movements rose 4.5% to 403,850.

Cargo was the exception. Throughput fell 1.2% year on year in August to 422,000 tonnes, which the Airport Authority attributed to an 8.8% drop in exports, partly offset by an 18.2% rise in transhipments and 3.6% growth in imports.

Southeast Asia and the Chinese Mainland remained steady, cushioning softer traffic with Europe and the Middle East. From January to August, cargo rose 17% year on year with the Chinese Mainland, 14% with Southeast Asia and 8% with Europe, offsetting falls in North America and the Middle East. Total cargo throughput for the eight-month period rose 2.6% to 3.34 million tonnes, and stood at more than 5.15 million tonnes, up 2.7%, on a rolling 12-month basis.