Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) today released its tonnage figures for April 2009. A total of 174,809 tonnes were handled in April, down 22.5% year-on-year. Cumulative tonnage for the first four months of the year was 637,823 tonnes, down 24.1% year-on-year.
Import volume for April was 46,789 tonnes, down 19.1% against April last year. Aggregate import volume for the first four months of 2009 was 169,748 tonnes, representing a decline of 23.3% year-on-year.
Export volume for April and for the first four months were 89,984 tonnes and 326,750 tonnes respectively, down 29.1% and 28.6% year-on-year for the respective periods.
The transshipment volume was 38,036 tonnes in April, registering a decline of 7.2% compared with last year. Cumulative transshipment tonnage for the first four months was 141,325 tonnes, down 12.5% year-on-year.
“Further to the already gloomy global economy, the current Influenza A (H1N1) poses another challenge to the overall market confidence, which may further delay the recovery of the air cargo industry. Hactl has taken proactive precautionary measures to ensure smooth cargo handling service under any circumstances. Though this is a difficult time for the whole industry, we strongly believe that Hong Kong and Hactl both have the good foundation to face the current challenge and the air cargo industry will rebound quickly upon economic recovery,” said Ms Lilian Chan, General Manager of Marketing and Customer Service.
Source: Trabsportweekly