Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reported another busy month for cargo operations in May even as its passenger traffic remains almost non-existent still due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) said during the month, freighter movements continued to surge, seeing a 29.3% year-on-year increase although cargo throughput dropped 6.8% to 377,000 tonnes compared to the same month last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact passenger volume and flight movements, which saw year-on-year decreases of 99.4% and 68.7% to 35,000 passengers and 11,355 flight movements, respectively.

"Cargo exports experienced an 11% year-on-year increase in May, with North America showing the strongest growth. The overall decline in cargo throughput was mainly attributed to the decrease in transshipments and imports due to the reduced belly capacity of passenger flights," HKIA said.

It noted that traffic to and from key trading regions in Southeast Asia and India experienced the most significant drops.

Good fundamentals, long-term prospects

“Despite the challenging business environment, the AA is committed to the long-term development of Hong Kong’s air cargo segment. HKIA remains confident in the fundamentals and long-term prospects of air cargo, and the airport is well placed to serve market demand as soon as traffic returns to normal,” said Cissy Chan, executive director, commercial of the AA.

Over the first five months of the year, HKIA said it cargo throughput recorded 1.7 million tonnes, a drop of 10.7% compared to the same period last year.

On a 12-month rolling basis, cargo throughput recorded 4.6 million tonnes, also representing a decrease of 7.7% year on year.