New records for Hactl, but slow month for HKIA

Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl, the biggest handler at Hong Kong International) recently broke both monthly and daily ramp-handling records.

• In November 2015, Hactl handled 2,242 freighter aircraft, ten more than the previous record set in November 2014
• On 2 December 2015, Hactl handled ninety-five freighters, up three over the ninety-two it handled on 19 November 2014

However many freighters Hactl may have handled in November, it was not a great month for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), which reported cargo volume down 3.1% year-over-year to 407,000 tonnes. Export volume for the month was down 2.1% to 272,000 tonnes y-o-y, and import volume fell 5.2% to 135,000 tonnes.

After beginning the year on a positive note – combined January/February volume was up 7.2% – HKIA saw y-o-y declines in the next six months, and then small increases in September and October. With the return to declining demand in November, HKIA’s handle for the first eleven months of 2015 was effectively flat (up 0.1%) with 2014 at 3.99 million tonnes. Commenting on the November results, HKIA said that, among the key trading regions, traffic to/from Mainland China and Southeast Asia registered the most significant drop in the month.