Hong Kong airport reports 14.9pc drop in February cargo volu

THE 14.9 per cent cargo decline to 258,000 tonnes at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in February was blamed on a 23 per cent year-on-year plunge in Chinese exports.

But HKIA's February imports fell nine per cent while transshipments dropped six per cent year on year, with North American traffic seeing the most significant drop.

"The decrease of cargo volume in February this year is partly due to the industrial action at ports on the west coast of the United States in the first quarter of 2015, which resulted in a strong figure in air cargo during the same month last year," HKIA said.

Overall, on a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA has handled 4.34 million tonnes of cargo, a 2.2 per cent decline from the previous 12 months.