Cargo traffic at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recorded a double-digit growth in February 2012, but airport authorities admitted this was partly due to the Chinese New Year celebration.
Cargo traffic rose 18.6 percent to 287,000 tonnes over the same period last year, HKIA said in a March 18 release.
Stanley Hui Hon-chung, chief executive officer of the Airport Authority, said, “While it is encouraging to see the uptick in cargo volume, we must note that the gain is partly on account of the low base for comparison, as Chinese New Year fell in February in 2011, while this year it was in January. Combined figures for January and February are therefore preferred indicators as the holiday factor is eliminated.”
Looking at the two months together, aggregate cargo volume at HKIA declined by 2.3 percent, to 562,000 tonnes, compared to the same two-month period last year.
Noting that the decline in cargo volume seemed to be stabilizing, Hui said he remains optimistic of the outlook for the industry following the “more encouraging” economic signals coming from Europe, the U.S., and China.
HKIA attributed the combined decline in cargo throughput for the first two months mainly to a 7 percent year-on-year drop in exports. Imports decreased by 2 percent while transshipments registered a growth of 2 percent compared to the same period last year.
On a rolling 12-month basis, cargo tonnage registered a year-on-year drop of 5.3 percent to 3.9 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, HKIA said it clinched Air Cargo World Magazine‘s “Air Cargo Award of Excellence” and achieved the highest overall rating in the category of “Airports Asia –1,000,000 or more tonnes.” Voted by the magazine’s readers, the awards recognize the performance, value, facilities, and regulatory operations of airports in handling air cargo. HKIA said it has won the “Air Cargo Award of Excellence” seven times and secured the highest overall rating three times over the years.
