Driven by strong demand from Hong Kong residents over the Lunar New Year, passenger throughput at Hong Kong International Airport reached 3.9 million last month, up 7.3 percent from February 2007.

"We believe many Hong Kong people took advantage of the buoyant local economy and treated themselves to a Lunar New Year holiday. Destinations in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America were particularly popular this year," said Stanley Hui, chief executive officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong.

While the Lunar New Year is usually a quiet period for cargo, total throughput in the airport increased 5.1 percent from February 2007 to 247,000 tons. This was mainly attributable to growth in transshipments and imports. Air traffic movements rose 6. 7 percent to 23,760.

For the 12 months ended on Feb. 29, 2008, the airport handled 48.5 million passengers and 3.8 million tons of cargo, year-on-year increases of 8.3 percent and 5.2 percent respectively. Air traffic movements rose 5.6 percent to 298,205.(source:xinhua)