An average of about 200 passenger flights a week have resumed services at Hong Kong's international airport, the city's Airport Authority said yesterday, with the trend expected to continue in July as fears over SARS recede.
The steady resumption of services will lead to a further rise in re-instated flights next month with an additional 270 weekly flight movements already confirmed for July's flight schedule, it said.
The AA attributed the rise in flights to its HK$100 million (US$12.84 million) SARS revitalization package annouced last month to stimulate air traffic and bring tourists back to the city after SARS.
"We are glad to see that our revitalization package is showing effect," an AA spokesman said.
The AA measures were among a series of plans to help Hong Kong rebuild its economy -- in particular the tourist sector -- and shattered international image after the World Health Organization (WHO) lifted its warning against travel to the city on May 23.
"Traffic statistics show that the full impact of SARS was reflected [last month]," he said adding "the precautionary measures taken by the Authority and its business partners to maintain a healthy, safe and secure airport has helped restore confidence on air travel through Hong Kong International Airport."
Hong Kong has been one of the worst-hit SARS areas since the virus struck in mid-March. The tourism industry was the highest profile economic casualty, falling by more than 70 percent in Singapore and Hong Kong, while domestic demand crashed in every country touched by SARS as frightened people avoided public places.
Economic research house IDEAglobal has assessed the impact of SARS now that the epidemic is considered under control and believes an average 0.9 percentage points will be wiped off growth in Asia's nine major regional economies this year, excluding Japan. It also predicts the region's economies will pick up close to pre-SARS levels in the final three months of this year.
"We have made our assumptions on a very bad three months [during the crisis], three more months of poor demand and tourist arrivals before things come back," IDEAglobal's Asian deputy head of research Nizam Idris said.
According to IDEAglobal, Singapore and Hong Kong will suffer the most this year from SARS, with 1.5 percentage points shaved off their annual growth forecasts.
Although Malaysia and Thailand avoided any big SARS outbreaks, their reliance on tourism also hurt them, slashing their annual growth rates by 0.5 and one percentage point respectively.
Conversely, while more than 80 people have died in Taiwan from SARS, Nizam said their relative lack of reliance on tourism had sheltered it from the economic woes suffered in other parts of Asia.
IDEAglobal says SARS will take 0.5 percentage points off Taiwan's economic growth this year, although the Taipei government is more pessimistic, forecasting 2.89 percent annual growth, down from a 3.68 percent prediction made in February.
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