HONG KONG -- Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) witnessed continuous traffic growth in 2018, with the volume of passengers and cargo throughput growing 2.5 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, said Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) on Sunday.

According to the AA, three air traffic categories reached new annual heights. During last year, HKIA handled 74.7 million passengers and 5.1 million tons of overall cargo throughput. Flight movements reached 427,725, with an increase of 1.7 percent than last year.

Amid the uncertain global economic situations, Hong Kong flight movements and passenger volume experienced steady growth, benefiting from growth in visitor traffic to Hong Kong, said the AA.

Data from Hong Kong Tourism Board showed that total visitor arrivals from January to November last year reached 58.56 million, up 10 percent over the same period in 2017.

The airport would continue to launch new initiatives, including the upcoming Terminal 1 Annex Building, to cater for the surging demand and therefore to solidify HKIA's leading position as a regional and international aviation hub, said AA CEO Fred Lam.

As a major infrastructure in Hong Kong, HKIA connected over 220 destinations worldwide.

Together with Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and forthcoming land control point at Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai, the third runway system under construction would improve the statue of Hong Kong as "double gateway" to the Chinese mainland and the world, said Paul Chen, financial secretary of the government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.