Hong Kong’s fruitful year with record cargo volumes

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) enjoyed "a fruitful year" in 2016/17, setting new annual records in all three air traffic figures: cargo, passenger and flight movements.
During the fiscal year, cargo volume rose 6.7% to 4.6m tonnes, securing HKIA as the world’s busiest cargo airport for the seventh consecutive year.
In the same reporting period, passenger traffic rose 1.1% to 70.5m, exceeding the 70m mark for the first time. Flight movements also increased, by 0.1% to 410,440.
To cope with the future air traffic demand, construction for expanding HKIA into a Three-runway System (3RS) commenced in August 2016.
Said an airport spokesperson: "On the cargo front, HKIA continues to develop its ability to serve fast-growing segments of the high-value cargo business, such as fresh produce and temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals that require specialised handling.
"The airport authority and local industry stakeholders are working closely together to pursue the IATA Centre of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) accreditation on airport community basis and HKIA is expected to be recognised as an IATA CEIV Pharma Partner Airport by the third quarter in 2017."
HKIA continued its strong 2017 cargo growth in May, seeing a sharp year-on-year increase of 12.9% to 409,000 tonnes handled.
The 2016/17 annual report can be viewed on HKIA’s website at (www.hongkongairport.com/eng/media/publication/annual-reports-2016-17.html).