Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) — one of the world's busiest cargo hubs — reported that cargo volumes at the gateway continued its upward trajectory citing traditional peak season demand.

The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has released the traffic figures for November showing that cargo throughput recorded a year-on-year increase of 10.1% to 478,000 tonnes.

On the other hand, it passengers handled reached 120,000 passengers and 14,875 flight movements in the month, marking increases of 48.1% and 18.4% respectively.

"The increase in cargo throughput in the month was mainly attributed to the 16.1% growth in transshipments, continuing the traditional peak period for air cargo," AAHK said, adding that overall cargo to and from North America, Europe and Southeast Asia experienced the most significant increases during the month.

Meanwhile, passenger traffic continued to remain at a "significantly low level" for the month compared to the pre-pandemic level recorded in 2019 — with outbound transfer passengers from Mainland China to North America recording "significant increases," it said.

In the first 11 months of the year, HKIA handled 4.6 million tonnes of cargo, representing an increase of 12.9% compared to the same month last year. 

On a 12-month rolling basis, HKIA handled 5.0 million tonnes of cargo or a 11.6% year-on-year increase.