Hong Kong International Airport, Asia's third busiest, said the number of flights it handled rose to a record in February, rising 7.9 percent from the same month a year earlier to 22,290. The airport, operated by Airport Authority Hong Kong, set a record 872 flight movements on February 16, the government-owned company said in a faxed statement to Bloomberg News.

Passenger numbers rose 10.8 percent to 3.63 million in the month and cargo increased 2.6 percent to 230,000 metric tons. Airport Authority is boosting capacity by spending HK$4.5 billion (US$577 million) by 2010 to add parking stands and other facilities at the airfield. It is scheduled to open a second terminal this year. The two-runway airport can handle about 45 million passengers and about three million tons of cargo a year.