A total of 891 flights were handled at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on Thursday, setting a new daily record in HKIA's history, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department said on Friday.

 

The new record set during the Qingming Festival, a traditional holiday that falls on April 5 annually for Chinese to mourn their deceased relatives and sweep their tombs, also snapped the HKIA's previous daily record of 872 flight movements set on Feb. 16, 2007 ahead of China's traditional Lunar New Year.

 

The spokesman said the Civil Aviation Department is expecting a continuous growth in air traffic which will strengthen Hong Kong's status as an international and regional aviation hub with more holiday-makers flocking outside during the five-day long Easter holidays.

 

The 891 flight movements recorded on Thursday also exceeded the daily average of 780 movements by 14.2 percent.

 

According to the department, there were also 443 flight movements operated through the Hong Kong Flight Information Region on Thursday, exceeding the daily average of 406 movements by 9.1 percent.

 

During this Easter holiday period, most of the extra flights operated by airlines were to destinations on the Chinese Mainland, and in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia. The Thai capital Bangkok was the most popular destination for Hong Kong tourists, followed by Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China, and Japan's Osaka.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2007)