February 18, 2005
New year throughput breaks records
Immigration Department

Passenger throughput during the Lunar New Year period created new daily record highs at two immigration checkpoints.

A record for Hong Kong International Airport was hit on February 13 with more than 108,000 passengers passing through, while the Macau Ferry Terminal hit a record on February 12 with more than 67,000 passengers, the Immigration Department said today.

During the period, February 4 to 17, more than 7.98 million people travelled in and out of Hong Kong through land, sea and air checkpoints, up 15% on the same period last year.

The total passenger throughput at land-boundary checkpoints was more than 5.77 million, up 17% on the 4.93 million passengers recorded during the same period last year. Of these, 3.8 million, a daily average of 272,000, passed through Lo Wu control point.

There were more than 619,000 Mainland visitors during the festive period, up 12%. Among them 327,000 individual visitors entered Hong Kong, representing a daily average of more than 23,000, up 57%.

To cope with the large rise in passengers, the department redeployed 228 officers to reinforce boundary and sea control points. Passenger traffic was smooth and orderly and the majority of passengers were able to clear immigration within 30 minutes.

Border crush to hit 6.5m for holidays
The Standard
Friday, January 28, 2011

Nearly 6.5 million travelers will pass through land, sea and air border crossings during the Lunar New Year holiday, an increase of 11 percent on last year, the Immigration Department said yesterday.

Lo Wu is expected to be the busiest for departures on Wednesday, Lunar New Year's Eve, when about 155,000 people are expected to make the journey out of Hong Kong.

It is also set to be the busiest for inbound traffic, with about 185,000 residents expected to return on Saturday, the third day of Lunar New Year.

A daily average of about 265,000 travelers is expected to pass through Lo Wu between February 2-9, amounting to around 2.12 million people.

Traffic at Lok Ma Chau's two major crossings - one for road travelers and the other for those using the spur line - will also be heavy with forecasts of around 821,000 and 705,000 travelers, respectively, or a daily average of about 103,000 and 89,000.

The Immigration Department section commander for Lo Wu, Wong Chung-yiu, said each traveler can expect to stand in line for between 15 and 30 minutes for clearance, while the wait will be longer during peak hours.

Wong appealed to passengers to avoid traveling at busy times.

The department has arranged for extra officers to be on duty.

A joint command center will be set up at Lo Wu for closer cooperation between the Customs and Excise Department and MTR Corp.