HK departure tax revenue tops $2b since levy increase

Hong Kong’s air passenger departure tax has generated more than HK$2 billion in government revenue since the levy was raised from HK$120 to HK$200 in October 2025, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said.

Chan was responding to a written inquiry from tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung, who asked about Hong Kong’s tourism recovery and the impact of the revised departure tax on public revenue.

Citing figures from the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Chan said the city handled 74.7 million air passengers in 2018. Passenger volume fell to 39.5 million in 2023 after the Covid-19 pandemic and global travel restrictions dealt a heavy blow to aviation.

The figure rose to 53 million in 2024 and further increased to 61 million in 2025 as border crossings reopened and air transport capacity gradually recovered. In the first five months of 2026, Hong Kong handled 27.7 million air passengers.

However, at the current pace of recovery, full-year passenger traffic may still fall short of the 2018 peak.

Chan said the Airport Authority launched the Air Network Development Programme in June 2024 to provide financial incentives for airlines to open new routes and increase flight frequencies.

As of the end of May, the program had attracted 40 airlines to launch 89 new routes across Asia, Europe, North America and Africa, and increase frequencies on 14 existing routes.

The government raised the air passenger departure tax on October 1, 2025, with the new rate applying to tickets purchased on or after that date.

Tax exemptions were also expanded to cover passengers who arrive in and depart from Hong Kong on the same day or the following day, as well as those who arrive by other means of transport and leave Hong Kong by air on the same or following day.

Figures showed monthly departure tax revenue rose from HK$217 million in October 2025 to HK$366 million by the end of April 2026, bringing total revenue over the period to about HK$2.02 billion.

During the same period, the number of passengers exempted from the tax ranged from 860,000 to 1.13 million per month, with 1.12 million exemptions recorded in April 2026.

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