HK International Airport sets a new cargo record

It’s official! Hong Kong International Airport broke through the 4-million tonne cargo mark in 2010, the first airport ever to do so.

HKIA will not publish final cargo statistics for December and for the full-year 2010 for a few weeks, but the Airport Authority held a ceremony to commemorate passing the twin milestones of 50 million passengers and 4 million tonnes of cargo in one year.  For whatever it’s worth, HKIA said the shipment that pushed its handle past 4 million tonnes was a consignment of electronic products outbound for Dubai.

When the final numbers are available, they will show the 2010 total up about 19% over 2009’s handle of 3.38 million tonnes, and up more than 6% from the previous highpoint of 3.77 million tonnes in 2007.

Also of interest is that the 2010 performance may move Hong Kong past Memphis as the busiest cargo airport for the year. Memphis (the site of FedEx’s main hub) handled 3.70 million tonnes in 2009, and would have to record an 8% y-o-y increase to match or exceed Hong Kong. Although FedEx did report an uptick in its US domestic express volume in 2010, we will be surprised if it is enough to keep Memphis in the top spot.