HK airport brand sentiments plummet after 9-hour system glitch

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)'s brand sentiments have dipped following a nine-hour system glitch that stopped the airport’s display screens from working on Sunday.

According to media intelligence firm CARMA, HKIA's brand sentiments before the incident were 27.6% positive and 8.3% negative. However, after the incident, HKIA's brand sentiments dropped sharply to 25.6% negative, while only 8.8% sentiments were positive.

Over the past weekend, CARMA saw over 128 mentions regarding the incident, "some users expressed disappointment that the content shared was not from Hong Kong International Airport's backup system. Others discussed how the computer failures caused disruptions to real-time flight information for passengers," said CARMA.

This comes after a system failure happened at around 7am on Sunday, as the terminal’s display screens, the airport’s website and its mobile app failed to display real time updates on flight information.

The Airport Authority apologised for any inconvenience caused to passengers and said the incident was not due to a cyberattack. As of Sunday evening, the affected display screens were correctly showing the flights’ departure gate information, according to local media reports.

“There is no hacking activity we have identified so far. It is not a hacking activity,” said Ricky Leung, an executive director on engineering and technology at the Airport Authority.

HKIA said in a statement on Monday that as the flight information display system in the terminal began to resume normal operation since Sunday noontime, a thorough check-up in the early hours of Monday was carried out.

"All the flight information display screens, including those in the departures halls, arrivals halls, the boarding gates and baggage reclaim halls, operate normally this morning," said the statement. The airport website and My HKG app also operate normally to provide real time flight information.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to HKIA for a statement.

Don't miss: HKIA reinforces its global travel status with new brand campaign

Back in January, HKIA launched a new brand campaign to showcase its lesser-known features and reinforce its position as one of the airports that provides the best experiences in global travel.

Created in partnership with Edelman Hong Kong, the campaign shed light on the connection between HKIA and people from various backgrounds by authentically sharing the stories of some of the city's most relatable individuals, including Do Do Cheng, Hong Kong actress and travel show host; cyclist Sarah Lee; and Eric Gnock Fah, co-founder of travel and leisure booking app Klook.

Join us this coming 26 June for Content360 Hong Kong, a one-day-two-streams extravaganza under the theme of "Content that captivates". Get together with our fellow marketers to learn about AI in content creation, integration of content with commerce and cross-border targeting, and find the recipe for success within the content marketing world! 

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