The latest figures from Hong Kong’s Census & Statistics Department indicate a growing importance of the airfreight industry in the territory as a proportion of overall trade. The trade value of air cargo rose to 35 per cent of overall trade last year from 30 per cent in 2003 with cargo throughput at Hong Kong International Airport standing at 3.63 million tonnes last year. Hong Kong remains the largest air cargo hub in the world, followed by Seoul, Tokyo, Paris and Frankfurt.

Compared to the 2.64 million tonnes recorded in 2003, last year’s figure showed an average annual growth rate of seven per cent, which was higher than the three per cent average annual growth rate for Hong Kong’s total cargo throughput over the same period.

The growth was mainly due to outbound air cargo which rose from 1.61 million tonnes in 2003 to 2.3 million tonnes last year. Over the same period inbound air cargo grew by 0.29 million tonnes from 1.04 million tonnes to 1.33 million tonnes.