I know I have fallen way behind on the statistics update, so I will be spamming them out over the next week or two.
Passenger numbers were down 97.5% from the year before, from 1.882.000 to 47.000
Cargo was up 23.3 % from 252.000 tonnes to 310.000
Passenger flights were down 74,3% from 14.124 to 3.635
Total flight movements were down 52% from 18.031 to 8.475.
February 2020 was the first month that we saw a reduction of flights with the outbreak of Covid-19, so this is where it start getting interesting to see how the numbers compare year-by-year. Of course the reductions in the beginning of the pandemic was not as severe as they were later on, but it still show how a drastic decrease it was over the next several months.
The Hong Kong Airport Authority has just released the following press release:
Planes parked at HKIA a year ago.
(HONG KONG, 26 May 2021, 2000hrs) – To support the Government’s vaccination promotion, Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) announced today that 60 000 air tickets will be given away by lucky draw to Hong Kong residents and airport staff who receive COVID-19 vaccination.
Of the 60 000 air tickets to be distributed by lucky draw, 50 000 will be given to Hong Kong residents who have received COVID-19 vaccination before the end of September, while the remaining 10 000 tickets are for staff of Hong Kong International Airport who have been vaccinated before the same deadline.
Meanwhile, the AA will purchase another 1 000 air tickets for giving away via lucky draw to AA staff vaccinated before the end of September.
The air ticket lucky draw to promote vaccination is planned to complete by the end of September this year. Vaccinated persons should submit their applications before the deadline. Details are being discussed with the airlines and will be announced in due course.
Jack So, Chairman of the AA said, “We hope air traffic would recover as soon as possible. A higher vaccination rate is pivotal to the early recovery of aviation business. We took the lead by committing additional resources to encourage AA staff to receive the vaccines, hoping that other corporations and organisations in Hong Kong will also support the Government by providing different incentives to encourage their staff to receive the vaccination.”
Starting from 20 April this year, AA staff who receive COVID-19 vaccination can take a total of three days off including the days of receiving the first and second vaccine dose, and the day after the second dose.
As I wrote a few days ago, American Airlines has canceled all their flights to Hong Kong until March 27th. However, they have now extended the cancellations to late April:
Flights from Dallas to Hong Kong were suspended through February 20, 2020.
Flights from Los Angeles to Hong Kong were suspended through March 27, 2020
If you have any tickets booked before these dates, you should be able to either re-book them to a later date or get a full refund online.
