Asian air cargo exports hit new heights in October when Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reported a cargo handling record of 373,000 tonnes for the month, up 15.5 per cent on the prior year.
HKIA told IFW that cargo growth was driven by robust export and transhipment, up 18 per cent respectively on the prior-year period. Imports were up 8 per cent, it said.
Very strong demand out of Hong Kong on all major trunk routes, in particular from Japan and Australia as a result of their strong currencies, drove up air cargo volumes, Cathay Pacific's general manager for cargo sales James Woodrow told online logistics journal IFW-net.com.
He said his alrline put on additional capacity out of Hanoi and Dhaka in response to an increase in export shipments.
Traffic to and from North America and Europe registered double-digit year-on-year growth, according to the IFW report.
During the first 10 months of 2010, HKIA handled 3.4m tonnes of cargo, up 27.1 per cent year-on-year.
In a separate industry development, a US grand jury in Atlanta has indicted a former executive of Japan Airlines and two former executives of Nippon Cargo Airlines and accused them of conspiring to fix rates for air-cargo shipments to and from the US, Bloomberg reports.
The charges are the latest in the US Justice Department's investigation into price-fixing in the air-transport industry, Bloomberg said.
Takao Fukuchi, former president of JAL Cargo Sales, and Yoshio Kunugi and Naoshige Makino, both former senior executives for Nippon Cargo Airlines, are facing price-fixing charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of at least US$1m.
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