The Airport Authority would continue building the midfield concourse and new parking stand to meet rising demand, chief executive Stanley Hui Hon-chung said yesterday as the authority reported an interim profit of HK$2.75 billion for the six months to September 30, up 13.1 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Revenue was up 8 per cent to HK$6.395 billion. The airport handled 28.7 million passengers in the period, up 3.8 per cent, two million tonnes of cargo, up 2.1 per cent, and 176,000 aircraft movement, up 4.6 per cent. Hui expected moderate growth in passenger and air traffic and was cautiously optimistic about cargo growth.

Police and customs seized nearly three times more ketamine in the first 10 months of this year compared with the same period last year - 682kg from 232kg. Overall, the number of crimes increased only slightly, by 0.3 per cent, or from 63,263 to 63,474, a development which Acting Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu called "stable".