an-124: Globaliser - I had not thought about non-flying customers.. - I wonder what the percentage of these customers are non-flying..??
Anyone know?
As it was HKG, the answer will be "lots". It's a little better at CLK because it is so far out from town. At Kai Tak, it was commonly said that you could expect a dozen members of family to see off every passenger, and some days it really did look like that in the check-in area.
One thing that does add to the numbers at CLK, though - if your parents have driven you all the way out to the airport (as mine usually do), it's a bit churlish to just jump out of the car and send them away. So I expect there are a number of people giving lifts who might have dropped and gone at Kai Tak who now stop at CLK to have a break, a drink and a browse.
One other thing: When the airport opened, the Airport Express was selling train tickets there as an excursion, irrespective of whether people had any business being there. In a place as devoid of interesting entertainment as Hong Kong, a trip to the airport suddenly seems exciting. I don't know how much this is now pushed, but there will be a level of day-tripping going on that's not related to travel at all.