Cargo Freight Provides Silver Lining For HK Airport

The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) said on Friday that demand for air cargo services remained relatively strong in July and freighter movements registered a year-on-year increase of 21 percent.

But in an indication of the struggling global economy, the amount of cargo that passed through the airport fell 7 percent, compared to a year ago.

The impact of the travel restrictions imposed globally due to the coronavirus epidemic meanwhile continued to choke the travel sector.

During the month, HKIA handled just 96,000 passengers and 9,870 flight movements – representing year-on-year decreases of 98.6 percent and 73.2 percent.

The travel restrictions and its effect on the travel sector was laid bare further with the tourism authorities saying the city received just 20,600 visitors in the month – a fall of near 100 percent year-on-year.

The Tourism Board said the provisional number of visitors was a slight improvement from June, which saw 14,600 visitors.

The board said though the global Covid situation is still unpredictable, it’s been actively promoting Hong Kong to its trade partners in its bid to revive the industry.