HKIA cargo passes 5 million tonnes in 2017 as hub nears 20th birthday

As the latest update in 2017’s air cargo growth story, for the first time, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reported a total handle of more than 5 million tonnes of airfreight for the year, just as the hub prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its opening this year.

For 2017, HKIA handled 4.94 million tonnes of total cargo throughput, combined with 112,000 tonnes of airmail. No other airport in the world has reported cargo throughput of more than 5 million tonnes for a single year.

Year-over-year, cargo throughput at the airport rose by 9.2 percent, HKIA said. For December, cargo volume rose 6.3 percent, y-o-y, primarily with increases in trans-shipments and exports. Cargo traffic to and from Europe and India was significantly stronger in December 2017, compared to the same month in 2016.

Also during 2017, more than 100 airlines operated at HKIA, while 13 of those were new joiners for the year, including: Air Seoul, Hong Kong Air Cargo Carrier, JC (Cambodia) International Airlines, Lanmei Airlines (Cambodia), Virgin Australia, Air Japan, Air Cargo Global, CargoLogicAir, Cambodia Angkor Air, Small Planet Airlines, National Air Cargo, Sky Gates Airlines and Western Global Airlines. The airport also began serving 17 new destinations.

Going forward, the two-decade-old HKIA is developing a number of projects aimed at increasing services for passengers and cargo. The airport, which opened in July 1998, was accredited as an IATA CEIV-pharma partner airport during 2017, and the airport authority plans to launch a tender process for the development of a Kwo Lo Wan logistics warehouse for e-commerce.

Those interested in learning more about Asia’s cargo gateways are invited to join us at Cargo Facts Asia 2018 in Shanghai 23-25 April at the Mandarin Oriental Pudong, where a round table panel will be dedicated to the topic. For more information, or to register, visit www.cargofactsasia.com