The Hong Kong Airport Authority has announced further declines in cargo throughput for September, although narrower than in the month prior, which it continues to attribute to persisting global trade uncertainties.

The world's busiest cargo airport said cargo volumes at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for September 2019 saw a decrease of 5.9% year-on-year to 406,000 tonnes in September, a narrower decline compared with the previous month.

"Amid continuous global trade uncertainties, cargo volume continued to contract in September,"  the HK Airport Authority said in a statement.

It added, however, that transhipment saw a significant improvement, with the double-digit decreases in the previous months narrowing to a single-digit 5% decrease in September.

Positive growth in Japan, India markets
Among the key trading regions last month were Japan and India, who contributed positive growth, the airport authority added.

On a 12-month rolling basis, HKIA saw flight movements grew 0.4% to 427,960, while cargo throughput dropped 5.7% to 4.9 million tonnes Passenger throughput declined 0.5% to 74.1 million.

In terms of passengers, HKIA handled 4.9 million passengers and 33,390 air traffic movements, representing year-on-year declines of 12.8% and 1.0%, respectively. 

HKIA said the drop in visitor traffic is the key factor accounting for the overall decrease in passenger volume in September. Transfer/transit passenger traffic, however, recorded a 5% increase and the number of passengers travelling between Hong Kong and Japan also saw a growth of 4% when compared to the same period last year.