Hong Kong’s cargo volume saw a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent to 397,000 tonnes in March, according to the latest statistics from Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA).

Despite a decline in transshipments due to lack of belly capacity, the overall cargo volume climbed during the month, on the back of double-digit growth in imports. The airport saw significant traffic to and from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Over the first three months, cargo handled at HKIA rose 13 percent to 1.1 million tonnes, compared to the same period last year. On a 12-month rolling basis, cargo traffic fell 2.0 percent to 4.6 million tonnes, whilst aircraft movements dropped 66.2 percent to 127,760 over the period.

Also read: HKIA’s cargo volume up 23 percent in February

In March, the airport completed a pilot project on IATA’s ONE Record with Cathay Pacific Cargo and other members of Hong Kong’s air cargo community. The project aims to enable more efficient and accurate air cargo handling through digitalisation.

In this pilot, shipment content and status from various sources are exchanged through a single trusted view amongst multiple stakeholders. The Airport Authority said it made use of its newly developed cargo community platform, which is in compliance with the platform’s standard.

“As a smart airport, HKIA is proactively driving various innovative and technology-based initiatives for the cargo community. Through such digital collaboration, we are driving Hong Kong’s air cargo industry to enter a new frontier,” said Cissy Chan, executive director, commercial.