200,000 daily visitors expected in Hong Kong over Christmas, back to pre-Covid levels

The number of travellers visiting Hong Kong over the Christmas holidays could reach 200,000 a day, a senior airport authority official has estimated, adding the daily number of flights had returned to “normal” pre-pandemic levels.

Airport Authority executive director Steven Yiu Siu-chung said on Friday at a two-day recruitment event that both the daily number of visitors and flights were returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Soon after the launch of the three-runway system on November 28, the authority had received applications for 1,150 flights a day – close to the daily 1,200 flights recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic – while the airport could expect about 200,000 travellers a day at the peak of the holiday season, he added.

“We can say that we are already back to normal,” Yiu said.

The authority said the peak travelling season would begin on the afternoon of December 20 and was expected to go on until December 27 or as late as December 29. More manpower will be assigned and all security channels will be open to handle the increased number of visitors.

Speaking to media at the Airport Youth Career Day, Yiu said the authority would need to hire an additional 40,000 workers for the airport, with priority given to local recruitment, as the three-runway system would require about 100,000 employees to handle it at maximum capacity.