📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Yiu Pakleung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics Ms Mable Chan in the Legislative Council today July 8
Question
There are views suggesting that the successive completion and commissioning of the Threerunway System and Terminal 2 at the Hong Kong International Airport HKIA coupled with the steady implementation of the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles STGV policy has brought major development opportunities to Hong Kongs tourism industry The Government must seize the aforesaid opportunities to enhance the layout of the air route network develop a diversified portfolio of visitor source markets and strive to attract more transfer and transit passengers to stay in Hong Kong In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 of the total number of passengers handled by HKIA in 2018 and in each year from 2023 up to the second quarter of 2026 and among them of the respective numbers of local passengers Mainland passengers passengers from other places and passengers transferring and transiting through Hong Kong with a tabulated breakdown of the above figures
2 as the Chief Executive proposed in the 2024 Policy Address to support HKIA to explore new destinations and flights particularly to enhance cooperation with civil aviation counterparts from Belt and Road countries of the new directflight destinations introduced by Hong Kong and the respective numbers of weekly flights to and from such destinations during the period from 2025 to June 2026
3 as the Chief Executive proposed in the 2025 Policy Address that the Government would forge more new air services agreements and expand traffic rights with South America Central Asia Africa the Middle East etc as the priority target regions whether the authorities have any plans to join hands with airlines hotels the tourism industry etc in formulating external publicity strategies targeting the aforesaid new visitor source markets and launching products that appeal to visitors from those markets if so of the details if not the reasons for that
4 as the Government has increased the Air Passenger Departure Tax APDT from 120 to 200 per passenger with effect from October 1 2025 and extended the scope of passengers exempted from APDT payment of the APDT revenue and the number of passengers exempted from APDT payment since that date with the figures set out by month
5 given the progressive increase in the volume of passengers transferring and transiting at HKIA and their proportion in the overall passenger throughput of HKIA apart from the Airport Authority Hong Kong whether the Government has launched any specific publicity plans or what such plans it will launch in the future to proactively promote the latest scope of APDT exemption to other places and roll out tourism products dedicated to passengers transferring and transiting at HKIA if so of the details if not the reasons for that and
6 as the expansion arrangements of STGV announced by the Guangdong and Hong Kong Governments on June 8 2026 are expected to attract more highspending consumer groups from cities in the GuangdongHong KongMacao Greater Bay Area to use HKIA in Hong Kong whether the Government has any plans to formulate dedicated publicity strategies for users of STGV Park Fly and Park Visit and to join hands with the tourism retail and catering sectors in launching targeted tourism products with local characteristics if so of the details if not the reasons for that
Reply
President
The Government has always been committed to promoting the development of the aviation and tourism industries and has implemented various measures to attract and facilitate passengers from around the world and the Chinese Mainland to visit Hong Kong via Hong Kong International Airport HKIA thereby promoting local economic development In consultation with the Culture Sports and Tourism Bureau the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Airport Authority Hong Kong AAHK our reply to the question is as follows
1 According to the statistics provided by the AAHK the distribution of passenger at HKIA in 2018 and from 2023 to the second quarter of 2026 is tabulated below
Year
Passenger volume million passenger trips
Arrivaldeparture passengers
Transfer and transit passengers
Total passenger volume
Local passengers
Mainland passengers
Other passengers
2018
237
121
183
205
747
2023
177
53
84
80
395
2024
215
73
128
114
530
2025
219
80
148
163
610
2026 JanMay Note
86
37
65
88
277
Note The figures are provisional and subject to confirmation by airlines
2 and 3 The Government has all along been working closely with the AAHK to strategically attract airlines to add new destinations and increase flight frequencies through outreach teams incentive schemes and policy facilitation measures For example the AAHK launched the Air Network Development Programme in June 2024 which provides financial incentives to encourage airlines to launch new routes and increase flight frequencies on existing routes As at end of May 2026 the Programme has attracted 40 airlines to launch 89 new routes covering Asia Europe North America and Africa as well as to increase flight frequencies on 14 existing routes
HKIA currently serves a total of 223 destinations From 2025 to date HKIA has added a total of 43 new destinations including those in Chinese Mainland Pakistan Japan Indonesia India Laos Greece Latvia Korea Kazakhstan Cambodia Norway Malaysia Czechia Serbia Italy Germany Australia and Romania These destinations are served by a total of 96 weekly scheduled passenger and cargo flights as well as nonscheduled passenger and cargo flights or charter services
To attract nonlocal airlines in particular those from regions such as South America Central Asia Africa and the Middle East to resume andor launch new routes the AAHK has engaged with various airlines to explore the possibility of resuming
