Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reported another double-digit cargo growth in July driven by a continued rise in imports and exports despite persisting belly hold capacity constraints as majority of passenger flights remain grounded.

In a statement, the Airport Authority (AA) said cargo throughput at HKIA saw a 12.4% increase to 419,000 tonnes compared to the same month last year. In June, cargo throughput reached 399,000 tonnes, up 11.5% year on year.

"Transshipments recorded strong growth of 21%. Both imports and exports also experienced double-digit growth," the airport authority said, adding that cargo to and from Southeast Asia experienced the most significant increase during the month.

Cissy Chan, executive director, commercial of the AA, said: "Strong growth in exports of air cargo last month is a clear indication that the new screening measures have been implemented smoothly – strengthening the security of export air cargoes while maintaining high operational efficiency at HKIA. We believe that the enhanced air cargo security reinforces HKIA’s status as the world’s leading cargo hub."

The release noted that in July, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) successfully implemented 100% security screening for export air cargo, meeting the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO’s) policy direction towards enhancing global air cargo security as scheduled. 

It added that the AA has worked closely with CAD in the introduction of Regulated Air Cargo Screening Facility (RACSF) Scheme to increase air cargo security screening ability at off-airport locations, and collaborated with air cargo terminals and other stakeholders to facilitate industry preparations for complying with the new requirements.

Over the first seven months of the year, cargo throughput rose 12.0% to 2.7 million tonnes. On a 12-month rolling basis, HKIA saw cargo increase of 4.6% to 4.8 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, during the month, passenger volume showed a "slight improvement" by reaching around 3,500 passengers daily in July, which the gateway noted was "due to a significant increase of passengers to and from Mainland China."

It noted, however, that passenger traffic only accounted less than 2% of the pre-pandemic level in 2019.