Cargo volume at Hong Kong Airport drops by 6.7% in H1 2019

July 15, 2019: Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has handled 2.3 million tonnes in the first 6 months, compared to the same period last year, according to traffic statistics released by the Airport Authority Hong Kong.

The airport said that weak demand in all three cargo categories – imports, exports and transshipments – was observed during the period, amid the uncertain global economic situation.

On the other hand, the passenger arm reported steady growth.

From January to June this year, HKIA handled 37.8 million passengers and 212,975 flight movements, increasing 2.5 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, over the same period last year.

In the first half of 2019, passenger traffic was driven by strong growth in transfer/ transit traffic.

The traffic figures for the month of June revealed that the passenger traffic increased to 6.3 million, representing year-on-year growth of 2.1 percent, while cargo throughput declined 8.6 percent to 387,000 tonnes.

Passenger growth in June was largely supported by strong growth in transfer/ transit traffic. Passenger traffic to and from Japan, Europe and Southeast Asia recorded the most significant increases.

On cargo, the decrease in throughput in June was attributed to weaker performance in transshipments and imports, which dropped by 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Amongst the key trading regions, cargo throughput to Southeast Asia and Europe decreased most significantly.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passengers and flight movements grew 2.1 percent and 1.0 percent to 75.6 million and 429,435, respectively. Cargo throughput amounted to 5.0 million tonnes, a decrease of 3.5 percent over the same period last year.