HONG KONG - Passenger volume and air traffic movements at Hong Kong International Airport hit record highs of 56.5 million and 352,000 last year, representing yearly growth of 4.7 percent and 5.3 percent, the airport authority said Sunday.

The airport authority said that cargo volume rose 2.2 percent to 4 million tons. The airport also reported 30,800 flight movements in December 2012, a 5.1 percent year-on-year increase and a new monthly record. The previous record for monthly flight movements was set in August 2012.

During the month, the airport also received 5 million passengers and handled 372,000 tons of cargo, registering year- on-year growth of 3.9 percent and 7.6 percent.

The growth in passenger traffic was driven mainly by Hong Kong resident travel, which saw a 7 percent rise over the same month last year. Passenger traffic to and from Southeast Asia and Taiwan performed particularly well.

Growth in December cargo throughput was primarily due to an 8 percent year-on-year growth in exports. During the month, cargo throughput to and from North America and the Chinese Mainland outperformed other key regions.

Airport Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui said that despite the challenging global economic environment, regional economic growth continued to drive traffic increasing at the airport in 2012.

New annual records were also set in cross-boundary traffic. During the year, traffic between the airport and Pearl River Delta destinations by coaches and ferry services at the SkyPier grew by 3.5 percent and 8 percent to over 1.9 million and 2.6 million passenger trips.

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