Hong Kong air cargo up 35pc to 2 million tons in first half

HONG KONG International Airport (HKIA) hit a record high, moving two million tonnes of cargo in the first six months of the year, representing a 35.1 per cent year-on-year increase.

In June, cargo throughput grew, but at a slower 28.6 per cent rate to 347,000 tonnes year on year. Yet it was the "the first time since July 2005 that the airport saw double-digit growth in all three traffic categories, partly due to the low base for comparison in 2009", said an HKIA statement.

"Cargo growth remains healthy despite having slowed down to a more normal pace in June after months of extraordinary growth," said HKIA chief executive Stanley Hui.

For cargo, almost all of HKIA's key markets recorded double-digit growth last month, driven mainly by strong exports, which registered overall growth of over 40 per cent. Exports to Europe increased 44 per cent and were up 81 per cent to North America as the global economy rebounded. During the month, imports grew 26 per cent while transshipments were up four per cent.

The strong first-half performance was supported by robust traffic in June passenger traffic, which recorded a yearly increase of 26.2 per cent, reaching 4.2 million.

In June, Hong Kong resident travel grew 28 per cent while visitors surged close to 40 per cent year on year. The number of transfer-transit passengers also saw healthy growth of 13 per cent.

Passenger traffic to and from south east Asia, the mainland, Japan and Taiwan showed more than 20 per cent growth compared to June 2009 figures.
(Source:www.schednet.com)