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About 5.67 million people are expected to pass through the land, sea and air control points during National Day/Mid-Autumn Festive Period. Among them, about 4.21 million will travel by land. The estimations are based on the average growth of overall passenger traffic in the first eight months of 2006.
The peak period for passenger traffic during the festival will be from tomorrow (September 29) to October 8 (10 days). It is estimated that about 2.7 million passengers will travel through the Lo Wu control point, an average of 270,000 passengers per day.
The number of departing passengers at Lo Wu is expected to peak at 180,000 on Saturday (September 30), while the peak of arrivals is expected to fall on Monday (October 2) with 180,000 people returning to Hong Kong. The highest daily traffic is expected to reach 315,000 on Saturday.
The passenger traffic at Lok Ma Chau control point will also be heavy with a forecast of about 1.36 million passengers (daily average of 136,000). The number of departures is expected to peak on October 7, with about 83,000 people departing for the Mainland. The number of arriving passengers is expected to reach a peak of 104,000 on Monday Daily traffic is expected to reach a high of 165,000 on Saturday.
To cope with the anticipated traffic demand during the festive period, the Immigration Department has suspended leave applications from staff working at control points and arranged for 85 officers to reinforce the various air, sea and land boundary control points during the holiday period through internal deployment. Additional security guards will be employed to provide crowd control service at Lo Wu control point during the festive period. The Immigration Department has, in association with the Police, the Customs and Excise Department, the Transport Department, the KCRC and the Shenzhen authorities, set up a Joint Command Centre at Lo Wu control point. All parties concerned have drawn up contingency measures to handle any untoward incidents and will oversee traffic conditions during the festive period. If necessary, the Lo Wu control point will implement the Contra-flow Scheme to relieve congestion.
Lok Ma Chau control point will activate the "Dual-facing Counter Unidirectional Application" mode during the peak of visitor arrivals, to increase the number of clearance counters for arriving visitors. In view of the limited handling capacity of Lok Ma Chau control point, the Immigration Department suggests cross-border passengers use Lo Wu control point to avoid congestion. Tour operators have been asked to avoid using shuttle buses to convey tour groups via Lok Ma Chau during the festive period. They are also advised to use separate coaches to convey group members and transit passengers to expedite passenger flow. To facilitate late-evening south bound vehicular traffic in late evening at Lok Ma Chau control point, the number of immigration clearance kiosks will be increased from eight to 11 between 10pm and 11.59pm from tomorrow to October 8.
Today there are 277 e-channels in operation at various control points. Apart from smart identity card holders who are Hong Kong permanent residents aged 11 or above and holders of Documents of Identity for Visa Purposes, since September 12,2006, people holding valid smart identity cards who have the right to land or are on unconditional stay in Hong Kong, and non-permanent residents who have been issued with a notification label can also enjoy immigration arrival and departure clearance through e-channels.
The Immigration Department will upload daily arrival statistics on its website, www.immd.gov.hk, during the festive period.
Passengers bound for the Mainland should be careful with their personal belongings and avoid carrying over-sized luggage, the department said. Passengers are also reminded to take their identity cards and valid travel documents when travelling to the Mainland.
Those in the process of having their identity cards replaced and holding an acknowledgement receipt should bring along a valid travel document. Children under 11 years of age who hold Hong Kong identity cards should carry a valid travel document such as their passport or Re-entry Permit.
Hong Kong residents who are abroad and need assistance may call the Hong Kong Immigration Department's hotline at (852) 1868.
Ends/Thursday, September 28, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:29
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