Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl), the major cargo handler at Hong Kong International Airport, said it achieved 11.5 percent growth in tonnage through its SuperTerminal 1 base in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2013, with new accounts helping to cover for the departure of Hactl shareholder Cathay Pacific.
Imports increased 13.6 percent year-on-year to a total of 243,287 tonnes. Exports also grew by 8.8 percent over 2013, reaching 489,624 tonnes.
Transshipments showed the largest percentage growth to 64,849 tonnes, up 34.2 percent from the same period of 2013.
“When we parted company with Cathay Pacific in 2013, we expected a long uphill struggle to replace this significant element of our business,” said Hactl chief executive Mark Whitehead. “In reality, we have quickly made up a substantial proportion of the traffic through new account wins, and organic growth among our 100 airline clients.”
Cathay Pacific moved much of its shipments to its own cargo-handling terminal in phases throughout 2013.
Whitehead noted that the growth in Hactl’s transshipment traffic, while currently still the smallest part of its business, “reflects the continuing development of Hong Kong as the preferred regional transshipment hub.”
He said this was the result of the company’s recent drive to promote Hacis, its added-value logistics arm. “This provides scheduled road feeders into and out of mainland China, which more and more carriers are using as a safe platform to extend their reach beyond Hong Kong.”
Hactl operates the airport’s largest cargo facility and has a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum.
Photo: stevie.gill
