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IN AIR TRAFFIC
STEADY GROWTH ****
THE VOLUME OF HONG KONG'S AIRBORNE CARGO TRAFFIC IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR MADE A REMARKABLE FORWARD LEAP, REGISTERING A 23.06 PERCENT INCREASE OVER THE 1973 LEVEL.
COMMENTING ON THE INCREASE, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT POINTED OUT TODAY THAT THE UPWARD TREND IN THE GROWTH OF AIRFREIGHT WAS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT AFTER THE SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING RESULTS EXPERIENCED IN THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1972/73.
HOWEVER, THE SPOKESMAN INDICATED THAT THE GROWTH RATE IN AIRCRAFT, PASSENGERS, MAIL AND AIR CARGO TRAFFIC IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR COMPARED LESS FAVOURABLY WITH THAT OF THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.
+THIS,+ HE EXPLAINED, IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE FACT THAT THE AVIATION INDUSTRY IS IN GENERAL FEELING THE IMPACT OF STRINGENT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS PREVAILING IN SOME OF THE MAJOR TRAFFIC GENERATING COUNTRIES AND OF THE CONTINUED FUEL SUPPLY SITUATION.+
NONETHELESS, AIR TRAFFIC AT THE HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT EXPERIENCED A SATISFACTORY AND STEADY RATE OF GROWTH DURING THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR.
IN THE SPHERE OF AIRCRAFT TRAFFIC, THE FIGURE FOR THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR STOOD AT A LITTLE OVER 54,000 -- SOME 4,200 OVER 1972/73. THIS REPRESENTED AN INCREASE OF 8.5 PER CENT.
PASSENGER TRAFFIC RECORDED IN THE LAST YEAR TOTALLED ABOUT 3.66 MILLION, 19.8 PERCENT MORE THAN THE 1972/73 LEVEL.
A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE WAS ALSO REGISTERED IN THE SECTOR OF AIRFREIGHT. THE OVERALL VOLUME OF AIR CARGO FOR 1973/74 STOOD AT JUST OVER 100 MILLION KILOGRAMMES AS AGAINST THE CORRESPONDING FIGURE OF ROUGHLY 84.5 MILLION KILOGRAMMES IN 1972/73. THIS AMOUNTED TO AN INCREASE OF 19.13 PERCENT.
AS FOR MAIL TRAFFIC, THERE WAS A SLIGHT INCREASE OF 0.99 PERCENT. THERE WERE SOME 3.9 MILLION KILOGRAMMES OF AIRMAIL LAST YEAR, THE COMPARATIVE FIGURE FOR 1972/73 BEING 3.86 MILLION,
GAZETTED PLB RESTRICTIONS CLARIFIED ***** *
THE PROHIBITED AND RESTRICTED ZONES FOR MINI-BUSES, WHICH WERE LISTED IN A NOTICE PUBLISHED IN LAST FRIDAY'S (JUNÉ 7) GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, WERE NOT ADDITIONAL ZONES AS SUCH, A TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SAID TO DAY.
+IN FACT, THEY REPRESENTED ALL THE ZONES WHICH HAD HITHERTO BEEN IN EXISTENCE IN THE PAST IN KOWLOON AND THE NEW TERRITORIES, HE SAID.
PREVIOUSLY, HE ADDED, THE DEPARTMENT HAD PLACED A SEPARATE OFFICIAL NOTICE IN THE PRESS EACH TIME A NEW RESTRICTED OR PROHIBITED ZONE WAS INTRODUCED.
THE SPOKESMAN EXPLAINED THAT LAST WEEK'S GAZETTE NOTICE SIMPLY LISTED ALL THE PREVIOUS PIECEMEAL NOTICES AS A CONVENIENT ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURE AND CONTAINED NOTHING NEW.
HE RECALLED THAT SIMILAR FORMALISATION OF THOSE ZONES ON HONG KONG ISLAND WAS ALSO DONE BEFORE IN THE SAME MANNER BY GAZETTING THEM ALL IN ONE LOT.