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Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) continued to see cargo demand grow in April despite US tariffs kicking in at the start of the month.
The world’s largest cargo airport reported a 2.6% year-on-year increase in cargo volumes in April to 404,000 tonnes.
This comes despite the US introducing tariffs of 34% on China at the start of the month - in addition to an existing 20% rate added in March. Those rates escalated to a total of 145% by 10 April as the two countries became embroiled in tit-for-tat increases.
HKIA said the increase was underpinned by a 13.9% increase in transhipments, with traffic to/from Europe and the Middle East continuing to be the primary growth drivers, increasing the most significantly for the period.
The number of cargo flights in April increased by 0.9% to 6,345, while the number of passenger flights improved by 15.8% as Cathay Pacific, HK Express and Vietnam Airlines launched new flight routes to Dallas, Komatsu and Ishigaki, and Nha Trang, respectively.
However, the increase does represent a slight slowdown in performance compared with the first three months of the year. In March cargo volumes improved by 4.8%, in February demand was flat (due in part to the timing of the New Year celebrations) and in January there was a 4.1% increase - this gives an increase of 3.2% for the first quarter.
Over the first four months of the year, cargo volumes were up 3% year on year to 1.6m tonnes.
HKIA’s cargo volumes for May will also be hit by the US decision to end the de minimis exemption for China and Hong Kong that had allowed e-commerce volumes to surge over the past few years.
China and the US have since agreed a 90-day suspension of most tariffs, while duties for de minimis shipments have also been reduced.
