Passenger and cargo flights to and from Hong Kong will rise by 122 services a week this summer.

From March 28 to October 30, the total number of weekly flight movements will be more than 4,540, up 3% on last season.

The Civil Aviation Department said there will be 156 additional services scheduled, but 34 will be cancelled, bringing the rise to 122.

More Mainlanders flying to Hong Kong

More than half the new services will ply Hong Kong-Mainland routes, notably Shanghai and Chengdu. The two destinations will register an increase of 24 and 10 weekly services respectively, making their total flight frequencies 189 and 25 per week.

The surge in flights can be largely attributed to the higher demand for air services to Hong Kong by individual Mainland travellers.

With the addition of 75 services per week, the number of weekly air services between Hong Kong and the Mainland stands at more than 600 - over 1,200 flight movements.

Both Siem Reap and Urumqi are new destinations in Hong Kong's scheduled air services network.

New services to start

Six carriers will launch new passenger services to and from Hong Kong during the season. These involve the provision of thrice weekly Qantas services to Perth, thrice weekly Lufthansa services to Munich, and twice weekly President Airlines services to Siem Reap from the season's start, as well as daily Dragonair services to Tokyo from April 1, and twice weekly Pacific Airlines services to Ho Chi Min City from June 24. From June 19 to October 2, China Southern Airlines will operate passenger services between Urumqi and Hong Kong.

Taipei remains the most heavily patronised port. With the addition of 19 passenger services per week, the number of weekly services between Hong Kong and Taipei is 295, some 590 flight movements.

Seventy-one airlines now offer scheduled passenger and cargo services from Hong Kong to 130 destinations. Air traffic controllers can handle as many as 50 aircraft movements during peak hours.