A total of 853 flight movements were handled at the Hong Kong International Airport on January 27 which set a new daily record, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong said Wednesday.

According to the spokesman, the number posted an increase of about 10 percent from an average of 775 movements a day, breaking the previous single-day record of 827 flight movements on October 28,2005.

There were also 437 flight movements operated through the Hong Kong Flight Information Region on January 27, a significant increase of 23 percent from an average of 355 movements a day.

The increase of flight movements was attributed to the heavy travel demand during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

Last year, 263,400 aircraft movements were handled at the Hong Kong International Airport, with the through area traffic up to 125,700. They represented annual increases of 11 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.

The air traffic growth in Hong Kong has been consistent since the opening of the airport in 1998, and the total flight movements of 389,100 handled in 2005 represented an increase of 65 percent since then. 

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2006)