Air cargo volumes in Hong Kong got bigger in July as Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and Cathay Pacific Airways reported higher cargo volumes for the month, propelled by transshipments and perishable and special products.
At HKIA, cargo throughput saw a 4.7% year-on-year increase to 380,000 tonnes, as transshipments rose 15% compared to July 2015. Traffic to and from key trading regions in North America, China, and Southeast Asia rose most significantly in July, said airport authorities.
For the first seven months of the year, HKIA handled 2.46 million tonnes of cargo, which remained flat compared to the same period last year.
On a rolling 12-month basis, cargo handled remained stable at 4.38 million tonnes.
Cathay Pacific announces uptick
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair also reported volume expansion in July. The sister airlines carried 158,022 tonnes of cargo and mail for the month, an increase of 7.1% year-on-year. Cargo and mail load factor rose by 2.9 percentage points to 64.7%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometers, rose by 1.2% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometers (RTKs) increased by 5.8%.
In the first seven months of 2016, the tonnage carried rose by 0.8% against a 0.7% increase in capacity and a 1.1% drop in RTKs.
“Helped by strong perishable exports from the Americas, the overall tonnage for July remained healthy, although revenues continue to be affected by dampened yields,” said Mark Sutch, Cathay Pacific general manager for cargo sales & marketing. “We saw month-end pick-up and a stronger feed out of our home market and Southeast Asia. Demand to both the Americas and India was strong, while we were able to capture more exports out of mainland China due to a reduction in the overall market capacity.”
While noting that the business environment remains challenging, Sutch observed, however, that demand for special products has been growing, and said the company will tap into this development by diversifying.
Photo: Baycrest
