Air cargo traffic growth at Hong International Airport (HKIA) was at a standstill in July, even as passenger movements continued to strengthen.
HKIA’s cargo and airmail throughput remained steady in July at 433,000 tonnes compared to last year, but its passenger traffic achieved a new record for the month, breaking the previous record set in the same month a year ago.
On the cargo front, transshipments recorded an increase of 9% year-on-year, driving the growth in cargo throughput. Among the key trading regions, traffic to and from North America and Southeast Asia increased most significantly.
During the month, passenger volume at HKIA grew to 6.7 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.2%. Growth was mainly contributed by Hong Kong resident travel, which saw an 8% year-on-year growth over the same month last year. Overall passenger traffic to and from China, Europe, and Japan recorded the most significant increases.
Over the first seven months of 2018, cargo and airmail and passenger throughput both experienced year-on-year increases of 3.1%, reaching 2.9 million tonnes and 43.6 million passengers, respectively.
On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 5.1 million tonnes of cargo and airmail and 74.2 million passengers, representing year-on-year growth of 4.2% and 4.7%, respectively.
Meanwhile, HKIA announced that EgyptAir will become the newest addition to its operating airlines, as the airline will launch a new service this September. EgyptAir will be offering twice-weekly flights to and from Cairo via Bangkok starting September 18, the service to be further increased to three times per week from October 28.
On the other hand, Singapore Changi Airport handled 170,630 tonnes of airfreight in June, a dip of 0.8% year-over-year. During the first six months of 2018, air freight throughput grew 2.7% to reach 1.04 million tonnes. Growth was observed for exports (+5%) and imports (+3%), while transshipments remained steady. Among Changi’s top 10 cargo markets, India (+7%) and Japan (+10%) grew the fastest.
Changi’s passenger movements in June 2018 rose to 5.57 million, a 6.9% year-on-year increase. In the same month, traffic between Singapore and Europe grew 19%. Among Changi’s top 10 markets, Indonesia (+11%) and Japan (+12%) were the fastest growing, boosted by travel to Denpasar and Tokyo. Routes to London, Melbourne, Mumbai, and Shanghai also registered double-digit growth.
For the first half of the year, Changi Airport registered 32.1 million passenger movements, 5.5% higher than in the same period last year. Nine of Changi’s top ten markets—Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Australia, India, the Philippines, Japan, and Vietnam—recorded higher traffic, with India (+13%) registering the strongest growth.
Photo courtesy of HKIA
