The devastating impact of Covid-enforced lockdowns on Hong Kong
International Airport (HKIA) has been revealed by figures from OAG
ranking the world’s busiest airports during the week commencing 16 May.
What was the world’s second-largest international airport during the
same week in 2019, Hong Kong, is now down in 84th place with only 12% of
historic capacity being operated.
HKIA passenger numbers for the week of 13 May 2019 were 877, 957,
while in the week of 16 May 2022 those numbers had dropped to 105, 198.
OAG figures show clearly that travel in Europe is returning to normal
faster than in Asia. London Heathrow was the busiest international
airport during the week commencing 16 May with a total of 761,756
passengers, down just 16.1% from the May 2019 figure.
Amsterdam was the third busiest international airport during that week, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle.
Istanbul (-5.0%), Dubai (-5.4%) and Doha (-6.6%) benefited from their
connecting hub status with passenger numbers for the week in review
falling only slightly.
As well as Hong Kong, big drops were recorded by Seoul Incheon
(-79.5%), Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (-67.2%) and Kuala Lumpur International
(-70%).
Singapore Changi Airport's passenger numbers dipped 52.5% from
786,229 to 373,738. However, these numbers are expected to lift
significantly in June with new and additional flights from South Korea.
OAG said markets like Hong Kong and Seoul are heavily reliant on
Chinese connecting traffic making their future recovery heavily
dependent on access to China reopening soon.