Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) has released its tonnage throughput for February 2010. A total of 180,033 tonnes were handled in the month, representing a solid year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 34.7 per cent. Cumulative tonnage for the first two months of the year was 392,656 tonnes, up 42.1 per cent y-o-y.

Export volume for February was 91,800 tonnes, up 42.2 per cent y-o-y. Total export volume for January and February was 207,097 tonnes, representing a y-o-y growth of 47.7 per cent.

Import volume for February was 50,536 tonnes, up 31 per cent against February last year. Aggregate import volume for the first two months of 2010 was 110,829 tonnes, representing a y-o-y growth of 47.3 per cent.

“Driven by the surge in air cargo traffic before the Chinese New Year as a result of the stabilising economy, tonnage throughput for the first two months of 2010 has achieved a record high and even reached the pre-downturn level,” said Lilian Chan, general manager, Marketing and Customer Service.

“While we see positive signs of some recovery in early 2010, we remain cautious on the outlook for the rest of the year. At Hactl, we will continue to deliver the best air cargo handling services to our airline customers and make sure that we are ready when the market fully recovers.”