Hong Kong beats all, Memphis sings the blues in No 2 spot

NEWS that Hong Kong is now the world busiest cargo airport was greeted with resignation in Memphis, whose airport ended its 18-year reign in the top spot, reported the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

"Nothing lasts forever," said Memphis airport authority president Larry Cox. "It's a global shift."

Said airport authority chairman Arnold Pearl: "For the last five years, it's not been if it was going to happen, but when. It took longer than we thought. Being second place on planet Earth is still pretty good. It is not like were second to Louisville."

Air cargo analyst Robert Dahl, managing director of Seattle's Air Cargo Management Group, said: "It's not as though Memphis is competing with Hong Kong for the same business. In a real sense, FedEx and UPS are competing for the same business. Airports like Hong Kong and Memphis are complementary. The fact there's good growth in China that benefits Memphis.

"I suspect if you look at the data, a high percentage of what Memphis does is domestic. The reason Memphis has slipped from No 1 to No 2 on a total tonnage basis would be a result of the fact that the domestic air freight business didn't grow as much as international air freight," said Mr Dahl.

Cargo volume of Hong Kong airport increased 23.4 per cent to 4.1 million tonnes in 2010 compared to Memphis, which grew 5.9 per cent to 3.9 million tonnes, according to Memphis airport's statistics.

Memphis is still well ahead of the world's No 3 cargo airport, Shanghai Pudong, but all concede Shanghai is catching up.