14 December 2008. Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) announced figures that showed a continuing fall in cargo and passenger volume in November. Hong Kong International Airport handled 3.8 million passengers and 296,000 tonnes of cargo in November 2008, representing a year-on-year drop of 5.6% and 18.7% respectively. Air traffic movements fell 1.3% from November 2007 to 24,815.

The steep fall in cargo volume was mainly a result of global recession. Trade activities continued to shrink across the board, and cargo exports showed the strongest decline in North American markets, followed by Europe, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

       Passenger volume and air traffic movements in the first 11 months of this year grew 2.4% and 2.5% over the same period in 2007, to 44.5 million and 276,535, respectively. Cargo tonnage recorded a decrease of 0.6% to 3.4 million tonnes.