Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) served 3.82 million passengers in September, up 8.3 percent over the same period last year, figures released by the airport on Sunday indicated.

In September, cargo volume in the airport reached 342,000 tons, a 6.5 percent increase from 2006, while air traffic movements grew 6.1 percent to 24,720.

"Cargo demand has been strong since April. The long-haul freight markets to the U.S. and Europe have been particularly robust, with the latter benefiting from the appreciation of the Euro," said Stanley Hui, chief executive officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong.

"We expect passenger volumes from Europe, the Mainland, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Korea to remain positive for the foreseeable future," he said.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, 2007, passenger and cargo volumes in HKIA grew 7.1 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, to 24.3 million and 1.88 million tons. Air traffic movements rose 6.0 percent to 149,030.

HKIA served 46.7 million passengers, handled 3.68 million tons of cargo and recorded 291,335 air traffic movements for the 12 months ended September 30, 2007. This represented increases of 7.4 percent, 4.0 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, from the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2007)