THE director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Willie Walsh, has said that the Hong Kong aviation sector's recovery is proving "stronger than expected" and is being driven by initiatives to boost traffic into the city and Greater Bay Area.

He said Hong Kong was making "considerable progress" as the sector recovered to pre-pandemic levels, adding that airline industry globally is expected to post a US$23.3 billion profit this year, reports HK's SCMP.

"Hong Kong is proving stronger than expected. I think it's the whole emphasis on - not just on Hong Kong - but on the Greater Bay Area, [and] the initiatives they have there to attract traffic into the region and into Hong Kong," he said at IATA's headquarters in Geneva.

The "Greater Bay Area" refers to the Chinese government's scheme to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub.

The city has implemented measures to strengthen cooperation for both cargo and passengers between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

They include one launched in August connecting passengers in Macau to the airport's restricted area directly by bus via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

In July, IATA revised its own projection for Hong Kong's aviation recovery and forecast the city would reach pre-pandemic passenger levels by the end of 2024, three years earlier than previously predicted.