Officials on Thursday said some 4.2 million passengers used Hong Kong International Airport last month, nearly double the "low-base number" from a year ago when Covid border restrictions were dropped.

The Airport Authority said the Lunar New Year holidays drove the growth, with the largest increases coming from traffic to and from Southeast Asia, the mainland and Taiwan.

"During the Lunar New Year holiday period from February 7 to 18, the airport handled an average of more than 150,000 passengers and over 960 flight movements each day," the authority said in a statement.

"Traffic during the Lunar New Year period peaked on February 18, with 160,600 passengers using [the airport]."

The authority added that more than 27,000 flights flew in and out of Hong Kong in February, nearly 70 percent more than the same period last year.

Cathay Pacific, meanwhile, said it carried 1.8 million passengers last month, nearly 62 percent more than the same period a year ago.

The SAR's flagship carrier said on February 18, it served more than 70,000 passengers, the most on a single day since the pandemic.

“Looking ahead, on the travel side we anticipate demand will progressively grow leading up to the Easter holidays, especially on long-haul routes," the airline said in a statement.

It said it was seeing strong demand for inbound business travel as more exhibitions are taking place in Hong Kong.

The expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme to Xi'an and Qingdao, the airline added, is expected to boost tourism during the Labour Day Golden Week holiday period on the mainland.

Cathay said cargo in February, at some 100,700 tonnes, dipped by seven percent compared with the previous month, largely because of the festive period.