Air cargo volumes at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) increased in July boosted by export expansion in the city — marking the first year-on-year growth in air freight at the world's busiest cargo hub. 

HKIA saw air cargo throughput grow 3.8% year-on-year to 361,000 tonnes in July. This is also 1.7% higher than the 355,000 tonnes that the airport handled in June.

The gateway has seen a steady rise in air freight volumes since April this year, recording 347,000 tonnes of cargo. In March, the airport recorded 372,000 tonnes of air cargo throughput.

"Cargo throughput experienced a year-on-year increase of 3.8% in July. Exports contributed the most to the overall increase in cargo volume in July, rising by 12.6% compared to the same month last year," the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) said in a statement.

It added that traffic to and from key trading regions in North America, the Middle East and Europe also "rose considerably" during the month.

For July, flight movements were also up 7.4% month-on-month to 24,030 movements.

Over the first seven months of the year, HKIA handled 2.4 million tonnes of air cargo, lower by 4.2% compared to the same period in 2022. The airport handled 142,840 flight movements in the January to July period, representing 94% year-on-year growth.

On a 12-month rolling basis, cargo throughput saw a decrease of 14% to 4.1 million tonnes, while flight movements rose by 44.6% to 207,925.