Coronavirus: Hong Kong International Airport’s profits survived 9/11, Sars, and the 2008 global financial crisis, but Covid-19 is different
- Twenty-year streak at risk from global pandemic with commercial travel industry gutted and revenues slashed
- Annual report paints gloomy picture of future but Airport Authority CEO says it will only be ‘temporary setback’
In releasing its annual report on Wednesday evening, the city’s Airport Authority gave a pessimistic outlook for its future, and said profits would grow more slowly in the midterm, in the face of the almost total collapse of the commercial travel industry.
The airport reported a 30 per cent drop in profits to HK$5.89 billion (US$760 million) in the 2019-20 financial year ending March 31, its lowest in seven years, marred by the effects of anti-government protests and early damage caused by the pandemic.
“In view of Covid-19, profits will need time to recover and will grow at a slower pace in the medium term,” the authority said.
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The airport suffered a 12 per cent fall in revenue, and a rise in expenses by the same number, in the most recent financial year. Revenue contracted to HK$17.1 billion and profit fell by 30 per cent compared to the 2018-19 financial year.