Coronavirus accentuates Hong Kong cargo decline
During the first month of 2020, cargo throughput at Hong Kong airport dropped to 359,000 t, 10.4% downswing compared to the same month last year. The world's biggest air cargo hub said that this was due to closure of factories and businesses during the Chinese New Year holidays. The cutback was mainly attributed to the 15% and 10% drops in imports and transhipments, respectively. Exports decreased by 9%. Traffic on the trade lanes with Southeast Asia and North America decreased most significantly.
Vivian Cheung, executive director, airport operations of Airport Authority Hong Kong, admitted that "traffic has been affected by multiple factors, including the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in late January and social circumstances," and he expects "to see continued decline in traffic numbers in February". (ah)