Flight movements at Hong Kong International Airport on the first day of National Day Golden Week of Oct. 1 are expected to rise more than 16 percent over the current daily rate, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department said Sunday.

The anticipated surge in demand for air transportation to 634 flights on Oct. 1 can be attributed to more individual travelers coming to Hong Kong from the Chinese mainland, and local residents spending their holidays overseas during the National Day holiday.

As of Sunday, eight airlines have submitted slot requests to operate 88 additional scheduled and ad-hoc charter flights (a total of 176 flight movements) from Sept. 22 to October 7, with most applications falling between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5.

Among the additional flights, 65 percent will operate to and from mainland destinations, while 27 percent and 8 percent will be between Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia respectively.

Notably, the majority of the extra services are flights between Shanghai and Hong Kong, accounting for almost 60 percent of the total. Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand are also among the more popular destinations from Hong Kong in the period.

At present, there are an average of 545 daily flight movements at the airport, representing more than 90 percent of pre-SARS level.

(People's Daily September 22, 2003)