The air traffic at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has exceeded pre-SARS levels, the Civil Aviation Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said Sunday.

The department said 15 more scheduled passenger and cargo services will operate to and from Hong Kong on a weekly basis in the Winter Season of 2003/04, i.e. during the period from Oct. 26,2003 to March 27, 2004.

More than half of the additional passenger services operate between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, notably Shanghai and Beijing, it said, adding that the two destinations have registered an increase of 25 and 10 weekly services, respectively, taking the total frequencies to 165 and 101 per week.

It said the surge can be largely attributed to the higher demand for air services to Hong Kong by individual mainland travelers.

(People's Daily October 27, 2003)