Budget Speech

Air Cargo Sector

113. The Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is a "double gateway" connecting the world and the GBA.  With further growth in external trade in the GBA, particularly the booming of e-commerce and the personalisation of consumer demand, orders received by manufacturers are becoming small in amount with a narrow delivery window.  It can be envisaged that that there will be an increasingly keen regional demand for air cargo services.  Last year, HKIA handled 4.5 million tonnes cargoes and air mail, down by only 7% from the pre-epidemic level.

114. The Airport Authority (AA) has active plans for developing intermodal cargo handling facilities, so that there will be seamless transportation of Mainland exports to the rest of the world through the HKIA, and vice versa.  With the expansion of the existing express air cargo terminal, and the commissioning of a new premium logistics centre as well as the Three Runway System, HKIA's annual cargo handling capacity is expected to increase from 7.4 million tonnes to some nine million tonnes in 2024.  When the airside intermodal cargo handling facility becomes operational as well, Hong Kong's position as the air cargo centre of the GBA will be further reinforced.

115. HKIA's capability in handling high-value temperature- controlled air cargo is internationally recognised.  In addition, the Government will work with the AA to actively explore measures to facilitate trans-shipment through Hong Kong, with a view to maintaining our competitive edge as an international air cargo hub.  We are confident that the HKIA will become the busiest cargo airport in the world again when the pandemic is over.

116. We will submit a funding application to the LegCo within this year to redevelop the Air Mail Centre at the HKIA, with a view to bringing the centre into operation by end 2027 the earliest.  We will continue to work with the AA and other postal authorities on maximising the use of the centre's transit handling capacity, in order to support the long-term development of the postal industry in the GBA.