Hong Kong port's container throughput in January-October this year reached 19.7mn TEUs, a rise of 4.9% over Jan-Oct 2005. The growth trend has been steady since March, averaging 5.6% for the past eight months.

In October, the overall port handled 2.2mn TEUs, 4.2% higher than October 2005. Of these, 1.5mn TEUs were handled at the Kwai Chung-Tsing Yi terminals. 16.4% more than in Oct 2005.

Meanwhile at the Shenzhen ports, some 1.7mn TEUs were handled in October, 16.1% more than in Oct 2005. From January-October 2006, container handling at the Shenzhen ports grew by 13.3% to a total of 15.2mn TEUs.

The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) experienced another busy month in October, as passenger and cargo traffic continued to rise. Passenger volume increased 8.5% from the same period last year, to 3.9 million. Cargo throughput grew 3.4%, to 329,000 tonnes, indicating a strong start for the fourth quarter. Aircraft movements rose 3.4%, to 24,500.

For the 12 months ended October 31, passenger volume grew 8.7%, to 43.8 million. Cargo throughput and aircraft movements rose 5.9% and 8%, to 3.5 million tonnes and 279,000, respectively.

Airport Management Director Howard Eng said, "Origin, destination and transfer traffic experienced healthy growth in October, fuelled by buoyant regional demand. The persistent growth over the last 10 months gives us a strong base for another record-breaking year."