Cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) registered a two-digit growth in January, according to the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK).
Airfreight grew in volume by 21.2 percent year-on-year to 334,000 tonnes, with all major HKIA markets posting growth last month over January 2012.
Taiwan and North America outperformed other key regions. Imports, exports, and transshipments all rose by double digits, the AAHK said in an official statement.
Stanley Hui Hon-Chung, chief executive officer of AAHK, said the substantial surge in cargo throughput in January was mainly due to the timing of this year’s Chinese New Year celebration. Consequently, traffic results for this month are expected to decline compared to the same period last year because most factories would be closed to mark the Lunar New Year holidays.
“It is worth noting that meaningful year-on-year comparisons can only be made with the numbers of January and February combined,” Hui said, adding that the combined traffic statistics for the first two months would be available in March.
On a rolling 12-month basis, cargo tonnage climbed 5.2 percent over the same period to 4.1 million tonnes.
Photo: Jephso
