Hong Kong air passenger traffic expected to return to normal by 2024 in time for finish of third runway project
- Airport authority says third runway will be ready ‘on time and inside budget’ for expected 2024 return to normal passenger levels
- News came as third runway officially opened on Friday, with Cathay Pacific flight from Perth first to touch down
Hong Kong’s air passenger traffic was expected to climb to between 60 and 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year and return to normal by 2024, the airport authority said on Friday, as the city’s third runway was officially opened.
The news came as Cathay Pacific Airways announced it had hired 1,800 new staff since July as part of its plan to increase capacity in advance of the predicted recovery of the industry.
The new runway became operational in July, but Friday saw the first official touch down, a Cathay Pacific flight from Perth, Australia, at 7.40am.
Authority chairman Jack So Chak-kwong said at the opening ceremony that the Covid-19 pandemic had caused problems during construction of the third runway, but he was confident the remainder of the project would be completed on time and inside budget by 2024.
Deputy director of airport operations Steven Yiu Siu-chung said he expected passenger traffic to reach 60 to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year, in line with Cathay’s prediction of 70 per cent capacity by 2023 and full levels by 2024.
The third runway, which can handle an extra 30 million passengers a year, is part of a HK$141.5 billion (US$18.2 billion) 650-hectare (1,600 acre) expansion project started in 2016.