Freighter movements at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) continued to surge in May, although total cargo throughputs declined.
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) traffic figures show a 29.3% rise in freighter movements to 6,335 during May at the world’s number one cargo hub, while throughput dropped 6.8% to 377,000 tonnes compared with the same month last year.
Over the first five months of the year, HKIA cargo throughput recorded 1.7m tonnes, a drop of 10.7% compared with 2019.
Said an AA spokesperson: “The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact passenger volume and flight movements, which saw year-on-year decreases of 99.4% and 68.7% to 35,000 passengers and 11,355 flight movements, respectively.
“Cargo exports experienced an 11% year-on-year increase in May, with North America showing the strongest growth. The overall decline in cargo throughput was mainly attributed to the decrease in transhipments and imports due to the reduced belly capacity of passenger flights.
“Traffic to and from key trading regions in Southeast Asia and India experienced the most significant drops.”
HKIA has been ranked the world’s busiest cargo airport for the 10th consecutive year in 2019, according to Airports Council International.
Cissy Chan, executive director, commercial of the AA, said: “It’s a great accomplishment that HKIA has been the world’s leading air cargo hub for the past decade, which we attribute to the airport’s extensive connectivity, high operational standards and successful cooperation with business partners.
“The ranking also recognises the concerted effort of the air cargo community and its business partners, to whom I would like to express my sincerest gratitude.”
Ms Chan added: “Despite the challenging business environment, the AA is committed to the long-term development of Hong Kong’s air cargo segment. HKIA remains confident in the fundamentals and long-term prospects of air cargo, and the airport is well placed to serve market demand as soon as traffic returns to normal.”
Passenger traffic, due to the continuation of the entry restrictions for non-Hong Kong residents and the suspension of transfer/ transit services in May, visitors and transfer/ transit traffic decreased almost 100%.
Hong Kong resident travel decreased 99%. The operation of the transit/transfer services at HKIA has been smooth since its gradual resumption from 1 June.
Over the first five months of the year, HKIA handled 8.2m passengers and 84,180 flight movements, representing year-on-year decreases of 73.8% and 52.6%, respectively.
On a 12-month rolling basis, cargo throughput recorded 4.6m tonnes, representing a decrease of 7.7% year on year.
