Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recorded a decline in cargo throughput in March as export activity weakened sharply, particularly due to disruptions in Middle East trade flows linked to regional tensions.

Cargo throughput at HKIA, which was recently named the world's busiest cargo airport decreased by 4.4% to 430,000 tonnes compared with March 2025.

During the month flight movements reached 34,100, representing year-on-year increase of 2.7%.

March's cargo volume was, however, higher than the February volume when it reported 361,000 tonnes, up 11.6% year-on-year. In January this year, the airport recorded a total of 415,000 tonnes.

"The decline was primarily driven by a 14.9% year‑on‑year drop in exports due to a steep 62.1% reduction in exports to the Middle East following the regional tensions," HKIA said of theyear-on-year drop in cargo volumes.

It noted that on the other hand, imports and transshipment posted year‑on‑year increases of 6.5% and 19.5% respectively, partially offsetting the downturn in exports.

By regions, cargo traffic to/ from Europe saw some growth, partially tempering the drop of the cargo traffic to/ from the Middle East and North America.

Over the first quarter of the year, cargo volume rose by 3.3% year on year to 1.21 million tonnes, while flight movements reached 100,645, up 4.9%.

On a 12-month rolling basis cargo throughput grew by 2.7% to 5.10 million tonnes. HKIA also handled 399,450 flight movements, up 7.1%.