Hong Kong International Airport (also known as Chek Lap Kok Airport) is the world's busiest cargo airport in 2023 in terms of cargo throughput, the 13th time since 2010 that Hong Kong International Airport (ACI) has been voted the world's busiest cargo airport in terms of cargo throughput.
Mr Jack So Chak-kwong, Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA), said he was proud to once again be the world's busiest cargo airport, demonstrating that HKIA continues to lead in a challenging environment with its efficiency and world-class cargo services. The AA will continue to make every effort to work with the air cargo industry to further enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness as a global cargo hub.
Although Hong Kong Airport failed to return to the top 10 in terms of international passenger volume, the Hong Kong government's "supremacy" in air cargo gives the Hong Kong government hope for the "Phoenix Nirvana", an international aviation hub that was once rated as a "five-star airport" by consulting firm Skytrax and has repeatedly won the first place in the "Global Airport of the Year Award".
01
Iron Champions
"We will continue to play our role as an important international cargo gateway in the Greater Bay Area and strengthen our position as an international aviation hub. Hong Kong's Transport and Logistics Bureau said on social media that the Director-General, Mr Lam Sai-hung, was encouraged by the achievements of HKIA and thanked the AA for its efforts in the airport's continued progress.
According to Airports Council International, Hong Kong Airport handled about 4.33 million tonnes of cargo in 2023, far surpassing the third-ranked Shanghai Pudong International Airport (about 3.88 million tonnes), and although it was still 9.9% lower than in 2019, it was up 3.2% from last year.
Cargo plane at Hong Kong International Airport (Source: Hong Kong International Airport's official social account)
In fact, the current Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) was only officially opened in July 1998 to replace Kai Tak Airport. According to Airports Council International, from 2002 to 2009, Hong Kong Airport ranked second in the world in terms of cargo throughput. Since 2010, Hong Kong Airport has surpassed Memphis International Airport in the United States to rank first for nine consecutive years, and although it fell to second place in 2020 during the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, it returned to first place again in 2021 and has been firmly in the top spot.
"We are confident that we can maintain this position," Mr. Lim said at a news conference last month.
02
Hard-won results
In 2023, when Hong Kong Airport (HKIA) became the world's busiest cargo airport in 2022 with about 4.2 million tonnes of cargo and airmail, Lam said in his blog that this achievement was not easy to come by, "thanks to the concerted efforts of the industry, the AA and the Government to promote the development of the air cargo industry".
On 12 March, at the World Cargo Symposium, the AA's Executive Director of Commercial, Mr Christopher Chan, said that the Cainiao Smart Port, a high-end logistics centre led by Cainiao Network, a logistics company under Alibaba, had been completed with a total floor area of 380,000 square metres and is expected to add an additional 1.7 million tonnes of air cargo to Hong Kong each year when fully operational. According to the data, the "Cainiao Smart Port" spent 12 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the lease period is until 2047.
Cainiao Smart Port (Source: Cainiao Smart Port official website)
In his blog, Mr Lam said that in terms of handling temperature-sensitive cargo, the airport's three air cargo terminals have a total of about 7,000 square metres of refrigerated storage space and are equipped with dedicated cold storage rooms with temperatures ranging from -28 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius to cater to the specific needs of different temperature-controlled cargoes.
According to the airport's official website, AAT, Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal and Hactl have all been certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for pharmaceutical cold chain transport and IATA for perishable cargo transport. In 2023, AAT won the "Supply Chain Innovation of the Year (Cold Chain)" award at the Asian Supply Chain Awards 2023 for COOLPORT, the first cold chain facility at Hong Kong Airport to provide a fully climate-controlled environment.
Asia Airfreight Terminal (Source: Hong Kong International Airport official website)
The AA is also investing in the development of cold chain facilities at the airport. Mr Lam said the AA has about 30 refrigerated trailers (also known as EMU trailers), making it the largest fleet of its kind among airports in Asia. Among them, 21 are available for hire by airport community partners, which can pre-set a specified temperature (-20 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius), and are equipped with real-time temperature tracking and global positioning systems.
"In order to attract airlines to increase the number of freighters coming to Hong Kong, the CAD has also introduced a number of facilitation measures to support the operations of the aviation and cargo industry, including issuing guidelines on expedited flight applications, streamlining the application procedures, expediting the processing of applications for additional flights by airlines, and temporarily exempting applicants operating charter flights to and from Hong Kong from submitting certain application information and documents," Mr Lam said.
Hong Kong International Airport (Source: Information Services Department)
In fact, in addition to flight requests, the airport itself has also set service indicators to ensure efficient operations. The airport's service performance data shows that in non-restricted areas, the waiting time for trucks is 30 minutes, the time for receiving export goods is 15 minutes, and the time for picking up imported goods is 30 minutes. In the air cargo terminal, the error rate is less than 1.5 times/10,000 shipments, and the delay in placing containers is less than 1 per 1,000 flights.
In terms of airport charges, the Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Liu Chun-sun, said that according to a survey report by an international independent consultancy firm with an authority in the aviation industry, the overall charges at Hong Kong Airport are generally lower than those of international and other hub airports in Asia, including London Heathrow, Singapore's Changi Airport and Japan's Kansai Airport.
"We believe that airlines and different service providers at HKIA will not only compare fees, but also seek cost-effectiveness. The AA will continue to closely monitor market developments and conduct regular reviews of airport charges," he said at the Legislative Council meeting.
Hong Kong International Airport (Source: Information Services Department)
03
New runway
"The AA aims to complete the 3RS by 2024 and will commence the relevant passenger facilities in phases due to passenger demand," Mr Lam said in a blog post in January this year.
Currently, Hong Kong International Airport has two runways (known as the North Runway and the South Runway). According to the CAD's official website, the two runways operate in a "separate mode", i.e. the south runway is used for aircraft take-off and the north runway is used for landing (due to operational reasons, cargo aircraft and Government Flying Service aircraft will also use the south runway for landing).
In 2018, Cathay Pacific's then General Manager of Airport Affairs, Mr Yu Ho-yin, said that when the third runway was completed, the north runway would be decommissioned for renovation, and a new airport control area building, baggage handling system and people mover system would be added. As a result, HKIA will maintain dual-runway operations until 2024.
Hong Kong International Airport (Source: Information Services Department)
"The expanded Hong Kong Airport will be able to handle 120 million passengers and 10 million tonnes of cargo per year from 2035 onwards. Lam said in his blog that the estimated cost of the entire three-runway system project is about 141.5 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Despite the high cost, the Hong Kong government is confident in the future of HKIA. Mr Lam said Hong Kong's strategic location in Asia is a four-hour flight to major markets in the Asia-Pacific region and a five-hour flight range to cover more than half of the world's population.
"We will continue to consolidate and give full play to our strengths, seek policy innovation, consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international maritime centre and international aviation hub, and become the most important gateway connecting the world and the country," he said.
Text | Feng Jihong
Reporter of Hong Kong Economic Herald
This article is an original manuscript produced by the Hong Kong Economic Herald
Reproduction is subject to authorization and the source is indicated