Propelled by a rising number of Hong Kong residents travelling, passenger traffic handled by the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in the first quarter of the year reached 12.55 million, an increase of 4.6 percent from the same period last year, newly released data from the Airport Authority Hong Kong showed.

For the month of March alone, the number of passengers grew by 1.8 percent to 4.22 million, with the number of traveling residents expanding by 6 percent, the airport body said without providing further details.

The March year-on-year growth rate represented a slowdown, however, from the 2 percent posted in February and the 10 percent in January, a closer look at the HKIA statistics indicates.

The March total passenger volume of 4.22 million was also lower against the nearly 4.33 million recorded in January 2011.

Cargo handled by HKIA, on the other hand, totaled 944,000 tonnes in the first quarter, up by 4.3 percent from the year-ago volume, in step with the increases of 7 percent in exports, 8 percent in transshipments, and 4 percent in imports during the period.

Flight movements surged by 14 percent to 79,845, propelled by a record 983 flights handled on a single day on March 31, 2011. The previous single-day record was 973 flight movements posted on December 17, 2010, according to HKIA.

The 14 percent increase in the flight movements for the first quarter, however, was not matched by the 4.6 percent growth in the number of passengers handled during the same period.

There are over 95 airlines operating flights to around 160 locations across the globe, including 45 destinations on the Chinese mainland.

Sustained growth in flight movements is seen by airport officials following the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department's move declaring HKIA's runway capacity for dual runway operations to 61 movements per hour to cope with the growing demand from airlines.

This capacity is also due to be increased further to 62 movements per hour by the end of 2011, according to airport officials.