(11 October 2007, Hong Kong:) Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) announced today that it achieved a new peak day handling record during the third quarter of 2007.  On 20 September, the tonnage handled hit a daily tonnage record of 9,850 tonnes.  Being a driving force of the tonnage performance, export volume kept breaking previous daily record at the end of September, reaching the highest daily export volume of 6,221 tonnes on 29 September.  Weekly performance surpassed the 58,000-tonne level, a total of 58,297 tonnes were handled in the week of 17 – 23 September.

A total of 241,254 tonnes were handled in September, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.2%. Tonnage throughput for the third quarter and for the first nine months of the year were 689,787 tonnes and 1,896,521 tonnes, representing a year-on-year growth of 6.1% and 2.8% respectively.

Export volume was 138,055 tonnes for September and 390,203 tonnes for the third quarter, representing a year-on-year growth of 5.8% and 7.2% respectively.  Export tonnage to  Europe registered a progressive year-on-year growth of 13.9% in the third quarter, as against an increase of 3.7% recorded in the second quarter.  Volume to the U.S. and Mainland China increased by 5.8% and 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter respectively.  Cumulative  export tonnage for the first nine months of the year was 1,056,795 tonnes, up 2.8% against the same period last year.

A total of 60,931 tonnes and 177,222 tonnes of import cargo were handled in September and in the third quarter, up 1.9% and 1.4% respectively.  Import volume from Europe is picking up in the third quarter – import cargo from Europe grew by 4.5%, compared against the year-on-year decline recorded in the previous quarter. Volume from Mainland China and the U.S. showed a year-on-year increase of 16.9% and 8.2% in the third quarter respectively.  Cumulative import tonnage for the first nine months of the year was 505,109 tonnes, down 1.1% against the same period last year.

The transshipment volume was 42,268 tonnes for September, and 122,362 tonnes for the third quarter, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.3% and 9.7% for the respective periods.  Total transshipment volume for the first nine months was 334,617 tonnes, up 9.5% year-on-year.

Ms. Lilian Chan, General Manager, Marketing and Customer Service said, “We are thrilled to have achieved several new handling records in September, proving Hactl’s ability to handle huge volumes of cargo efficiently and smoothly. Moving into the second half of the year, we saw signs of accelerated growth in the total air cargo throughput, compared to the sluggish increase in Q1 and Q2.  We are optimistic in attaining a positive cargo volume growth in this peak season, while delivering our usual high quality services to our customers.”

The summary of the import, export and transshipment volumes handled in September, the third quarter and the first nine months of year 2007 is tabulated as follows: