Air cargo volumes at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and Cathay Pacific Airways continued to register healthy growth in September.
At HKIA, 430,000 tonnes of cargo were handled during the month, soaring 9.1% over the previous September.
Of this figure, exports registered a robust 14% year-on-year growth, continuing to lead the growth in cargo volume. Among the key trading regions, cargo throughput to Europe and Southeast Asia increased the most significantly.
Over the first nine months of 2017, cargo volume has seen a year-on-year surge of 10.9% to 3.58 million tonnes.
On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 4.87 million tonnes of cargo, registering growth of 10.2%.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon lifted higher cargo and mail volumes in September 2017 compared to the same month in 2016, according to Cathay Pacific Airways.
The two airlines carried 177,691 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 9.6% year-over-year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 3.1 percentage points to 68.1%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometers, was up by 2.6% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometers (RTKs) increased by 7.5%.
In the first nine months of 2017, the tonnage rose by 11.6% against a 3.2% increase in capacity and a 9.3% increase in RTKs.
Cathay Pacific director for commercial and cargo Ronald Lam said that September was notable for one particularly outstanding week. “The week of 17-23 September saw us break the company’s all time weekly uplift tonnage record,” he said.
He added that they ramped up freighter capacity on the trans-Pacific, India and China routes to meet growing demand, and also added a charter operation to the United States. “Tonnage growth was well ahead of capacity growth, with a commendable load factor achieved on both long-haul routes as well as regional services,” he said.
A high freight load factor has also helped to underpin a sustained recovery in cargo yields, Lam stated.
