Hong Kong Airport Reports 29.3% Increase in Freighter Movements

The Airport Authority of Hong Kong has reported that freighter movements at HKIA in May 2020 continued to surge, increasing 29.3% year-on-year.

Cargo throughput, however, dropped 6.8% to 377,000 tonnes compared to the same month last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact passenger volume and flight movements, with 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 transshipments 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.

Airports Council International has ranked HKIA as the world’s busiest cargo airport for the 10th consecutive year.

Cissy Chan, Executive Director, Commercial of the Airport Authority, 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. 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.”

Because of the continued 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%. Transit / transfer services at HKIA resumed, in a gradual manner, on 1 June.

Over the first five months of the year, HKIA handled 8.2 million passengers and 84,180 flight movements, representing year-on-year decreases of 73.8% and 52.6%, respectively. Cargo throughput recorded 1.7 million tonnes, a drop of 10.7% compared to the same period last year.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume and flight movements fell by 36.0% and 24.0% to 48.3 million and 326,275, respectively. Cargo throughput recorded 4.6 million tonnes, representing a decrease of 7.7% year on year.

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