Hong Kong International Airport continued to post cargo volume recovery in March after Covid-19 restrictions earlier dragged volumes at the world's busiest cargo airport.
The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) recently released the traffic figures for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for March 2023 which showed air freight volumes grew 5.8% to 372,000 tonnes year-on-year.
This is also higher than the 290,000 tonnes recorded in February — which was then up 6.7% year-on-year — and the 288,000 tonnes in January, which was lower by 26.4% compared to the same month in 2022.
During the period, flight movements more than doubled year-on-year to 20,130.
Cargo impacted by global economic uncertainties
"Cargo remained impacted by global economic uncertainties. Although cargo volume grew year on year in March 2023, this was primarily due to the low base for comparison set during the same month last year following pandemic-related supply chain disruptions," AAHK said in a statement.
It added that for March, exports grew by 19% year on year.
The report noted that cargo traffic to and from key trading regions in North America, the Middle East and Europe saw the most significant increases during the month.
Over the first three months of the year, HKIA handled 950,000 tonnes of cargo, which was down 6.3% year-on-year.
On a 12-month rolling basis, cargo throughput also decreased by 16% to 4.1 million tonnes.
Despite the continued drag from the ongoing global economic rout, HKIA was recently named by the Airports Council International (ACI) World as the world's busiest cargo airport in 2022 — retaining the top spot from 2021.
Meanwhile, AAHK said HKIA was recently awarded Level 4, “Transformation”, in Airports Council International's Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) programme, which recognises the airport's firm commitment to reducing its carbon footprint as well as its achievements in carbon management.
Launched in 2009, ACA is the only institutionally endorsed, global carbon management certification standard for airports. It was established to help the airport industry benefit from shared expertise, achieve lower energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.
"We are honoured to receive ACA Level 4 accreditation, which underscores our tireless efforts in carbon management. Our pledge is to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2050, with a midpoint target of 55% in absolute emissions reduction by 2035 from a 2018 baseline. To achieve this, we will continue working closely with our key aviation partners and third parties," said Peter Lee, general manager, Sustainability of AAHK.
"We have full confidence in our ability to develop HKIA into one of the world's greenest airports and contribute to the sustainable development of the region," he added.
