Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has signed an agreement with Dongguan Port Group to establish a joint venture for the development of HKIA Dongguan Logistics Park, where the world’s first sea-air intermodal transshipment arrangement directly connecting a logistics park to an airport’s airside is operated.
The novel sea-air intermodal transshipment arrangement enables cargo security screening, palletisation, and airline acceptance for the export cargo of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to be completed upstream in Dongguan in compliance with Hong Kong’s air cargo regulations before shipping the cargo by secured vessels to Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for direct uplift to overseas destinations as transshipments.
Vice versa, international shipments can be imported to the GBA via HKIA and the logistics park. Compared to the existing model, the new transshipment arrangement is expected to save 50% of the cost and one-third of the processing time.
Since the launch of the pilot scheme in April 2023, this novel intermodal transshipment model has been operating smoothly. The annual handling capacity of the model will reach over one million tonnes of cargo upon completion of the first phase of development which spans an area of 20 hectares.
To further improve cargo handling efficiency and security, a wide array of digitalized and highly-automated facilities are introduced at the logistics park, which includes Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV) and customized containers.
AAHK has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, for the planning, management, and operation of the logistics park, in accordance with the agreement signed with Dongguan Port Group.
The agreement was signed yesterday at HKIA by Cissy Chan, Executive Director, Commercial of AAHK; and Wan Hui, Chairman of Dongguan Port Group; and witnessed by Xiao Yafei, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of Guangdong Province and Secretary of the Dongguan Committee of the Communist Party of China; Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of AAHK; Chen Qingsong, Vice Mayor of Dongguan Municipal People’s Government; Huang Qiaofa, Secretary-general of the Dongguan Committee of the Communist Party of China; Jia Guibin, Secretary of the Shatian Town Committee of the Communist Party of China; Victor Liu, Director-General of Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government; Vivian Cheung, Chief Operating Officer of AAHK, and Ricky Leung, Executive Director, Engineering and Technology of AAHK.
Cissy Chan said, “We are pleased to sign the agreement with our Dongguan partners for the development of HKIA Dongguan Logistics Park, which not only expands the hinterland for HKIA’s cargo business, but also brings new growth opportunities for trade, logistics, and other relevant industries of Hong Kong and the entire GBA. We believe this project can further strengthen HKIA’s role as a double gateway connecting the GBA with the world.”
