Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) — one of the world's busiest cargo hubs — saw "resilient cargo performance" last year despite the ongoing challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has released the traffic figures for 2021 showing that cargo throughput increased 12.5% year on year to 5 million tonnes, exceeding the 4.8 million tonnes recorded in 2019, the year before the outbreak of Covid-19.

On the other hand, it said passenger traffic "remained at a significantly low level" compared to the pre-pandemic level due to pandemic entry restrictions being implemented. HKIA noted that in 2021, the airport handled 1.4 million passengers and 144,815 flights, marking year-on-year declines of 84.7% and 9.9%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of cargo flights surged to an all-time record of 82,935, a year-on-year increase of 19.8%. 

The airport recorded a monthly high cargo throughput in November 2021.

"Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) announced the 2021 air traffic figures of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), which showed resilient cargo performance and continued impact on passenger traffic amid the Covid-19 pandemic," the Airport Authority said in a statement.

Boost from transshipments

Meanwhile, for December alone, HKIA handled 477,000 tonnes of cargo, representing year-on-year growth of 8.6%.

It said the growth in cargo throughput in December was mainly attributed to 18% year-on-year growth in transshipments. Imports and exports both experienced 7% growth.

"The strong momentum of peak cargo demand in November 2021 carried into December despite flight reductions due to the emergence of the Omicron variant," HKIA added.

Meanwhile, HKIA handled 154,000 passengers and 14,515 flights, representing increases of 70.0% and 14.7%, respectively, with outbound transfer passengers from Mainland China recording significant increases compared to the same month in 2020.

The major cargo gateway noted that overall cargo to and from Southeast Asia experienced the most significant increases during the month.