New Air Cargo Security Screening Policy Successfully Implemented at HKIA
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) today released the traffic figures for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for July 2021. During the month, HKIA handled 111,000 passengers and 11,850 flight movements, representing year-on-year increases of 15.5% and 20.0%, respectively. Cargo throughput saw a 12.4% increase to 419,000 tonnes compared to the same month last year.
Passenger traffic showed a slight improvement by reaching around 3,500 passengers daily in July 2021, due to a significant increase of passengers to and from Mainland China. However, passenger traffic only accounted for less than 2% of the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
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Cargo throughput at HKIA in July recorded double-digit growth of 12.4%. Transshipments recorded strong growth of 21%. Both imports and exports also experienced double-digit growth. Cargo to and from Southeast Asia experienced the most significant increase during the month.
In July, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) successfully implemented 100% security screening for export air cargo, meeting the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO’s) policy direction towards enhancing global air cargo security as scheduled. The AA has worked closely with CAD in the introduction of the Regulated Air Cargo Screening Facility (RACSF) Scheme to increase air cargo security screening ability at off-airport locations and collaborated with air cargo terminals and other stakeholders to facilitate industry preparations for complying with the new requirements.
Cissy Chan, Executive Director, Commercial of the AA, said, “Strong growth in exports of air cargo last month is a clear indication that the new screening measures have been implemented smoothly – strengthening the security of export air cargoes while maintaining high operational efficiency at HKIA. We believe that the enhanced air cargo security reinforces HKIA’s status as the world’s leading cargo hub.”
Over the first seven months of the year, HKIA handled 491,000 passengers and 74,665 flight movements, marking year-on-year decreases of 94.2% and 28.2%, respectively. Cargo throughput rose 12.0% to 2.7 million tonnes.
On a 12-month rolling basis, HKIA saw 97.4% and 52.1% drops in passengers and flight movements, to 925,000 and 131,310, respectively. Cargo throughput saw an increase of 4.6% to 4.8 million tonnes.
