October saw a 1.4% year-on-year fall in Hong Kong International Airport's passenger volume, to 4.1 million, while cargo throughput dropped 9.2%, to 320,000 tonnes. Air traffic movements grew 1%, to 26,035.

Drops were seen in visitor traffic - particularly from the Mainland, Southeast Asia, North America and Europe, while transfer/ transit passengers showed a moderate increase compared to the same month last year.

Cargo traffic showed an across-the-board drop with import/ export figures falling more than 10%. Transshipment recorded a relatively mild decrease.

Airport Authority Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui said the global financial turmoil is biting deeper into world economies while business and trade activities are appreciably slowing down. These conditions have contributed to the continuous decline in passenger and cargo traffic that began in August.

"Given the current market environment, we have revised our traffic forecast for calendar year 2008 with passenger throughput and aircraft movements still expected to see marginal increases while cargo traffic will likely register negative growth.

"Contraction in air cargo volume is particularly prominent. Global demand for Asian/ Mainland Chinese products have dwindled substantially because of the worsening economies of major trading partners like the US and Europe. As a result, trading activities between Asia and the rest of the world are rapidly slowing down, which has had an unavoidable impact on Hong Kong's air cargo business."