Boosted by strong inter/intra-regional traffic, cargo throughput at the Hong Kong International Airport grew 6.9% Year-on-Year, amounting to 317,000 tonnes in October. This was a record-high for the second consecutive month, despite a slowdown in international freight traffic growth. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the growth in international freight traffic for the first half of 2005 grew by just 3.5%, compared to the 13.2% growth in Jan-June 2004. The latest IATA figures show that international freight traffic continued its slowdown, registering 1.3% growth for Sept 2005 over Sept 2004, indicating that soaring oil prices have taken their toll.
In Hong Kong a new daily record of 151 freight movements was set on October 21 as a result of the robust cargo throughput.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong port's cargo throughput from January to October this year amounted to 18.64mn TEUs, a rise of 1.7% over the same period last year. In October, some 2mn TEUs were handled at the port, at a single month growth of 3.3%. Comparatively, the Shenzhen ports handled a total of 13.4mn TEUs from Jan-Oct 2005, at a growth rate of 19.8%. In October, the Shenzhen ports handled 1.5mn TEUs, compared to the 1.3mn TEUs handled at the Hong Kong container terminals in Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi.