Hong Kong International Airport was ranked Asia-Pacific’s fourth-busiest for international passengers for the first eight months of this year, rising sharply from 30th spot last year when the city’s harsh Covid-19 travel restrictions were still in effect.
But industry bodies warned that staffing shortages and supply chain issues remained in the way of the airport recovering fully and reclaiming the No 1 spot it held consistently before the pandemic. It handled 71.5 million passengers in 2019.
Singapore’s Changi Airport ranked first from January to August, with almost 38 million passengers. That was an 84 per cent recovery rate compared with the 45 million it handled in the first eight months of 2019, according to data compiled by Singaporean consulting firm Sobie Aviation.
Seoul’s Incheon Airport was second at 35 million passengers, a 73 per cent recovery rate, and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport was third with 25.5 million passengers, a rate of 72 per cent.
Hong Kong’s airport handled 24.3 million passengers, just under half the pre-pandemic number, while Taiwan Taoyuan Airport was fifth with 21.8 million passengers, which was a recovery rate of 67 per cent.
Hong Kong fell back among Asia-Pacific airports as the city kept its tough pandemic restrictions on international arrivals even as other destinations began opening up to visitors.Source: SCMP
