National holidays to boost Hong Kong air traffic
( 2003-09-21 16:16) (Agencies)
Hong Kong's SARS-hit air
traffic will get a boost from Chinese holidays in the first week of October,
official figures showed on Sunday.
China's National Day falls on October 1 and marks the start of a week-long
holiday known as the Golden Week.
The number of daily flights to and from Hong Kong International Airport,
Asia's busiest, is expected to rise about 16 percent to 634 on October 1, the
Civil Aviation Department said in a statement.
Eight airlines plan to run a total of 176 additional scheduled and ad-hoc
charter flights to and from the territory during the period from September 22 to
October 7, more than double the 72 additional flights of the year-earlier
period.
"The anticipated surge in demand for air transportation can be attributed to
more individual travellers coming to Hong Kong from the mainland, and local
residents spending their holidays overseas during National Day Golden Week," the
statement said.
The airport now sees 545 daily flights on average, more than 90 percent of
pre-SARS levels.
Passenger flow through Hong Kong airport came to a near standstill this year
as the deadly SARS virus scared off tourists and business travellers.
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