Authority Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui said the mild year-on-year cuts in passenger and cargo traffic showed contractions continue to narrow.

He noted one passenger and six freighter airlines have resumed or started operating at the airport since July, reflecting well on their confidence in Hong Kong and the aviation industry.

The fall in passenger volume was largely due to weak visitor traffic, particularly from markets like Taiwan and North America. Transfer and transit passengers also dropped 11% year-on-year, mainly due to declining traffic from the Mainland and Taiwan markets.

Travel made by Hong Kong residents, however, recorded 9% growth. Exports and transshipments saw declines of 4% and 15%, while imports grew 6%. Drops in air traffic volumes have continued to narrow in the last three months.

Comparing year-on-year movements on a quarterly basis, the fall in passenger volume has reduced from 7.1% in the first quarter to 3.5% in the third, while cargo volume dropped 22.9% in the first quarter and 5.9% in in the third.

The airport handled 34.2 million passenger trips and 2.4 million tonnes of cargo from January to September, down 6.6% and 15.1%. Air traffic movements fell 7.9% to 207,850.

On a rolling 12-month basis there were 46.2 million passenger trips, 3.2 million tonnes of cargo and 283,370 flight movements, down 6%, 16% and 6.2%.