Hactl cargo up 2.1pc in 2012 as it faces 2013 without Cathay Pacific

HONG KONG Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl), the city's big air cargo handler, says 2012 results were the second best in the company's 37-year history, after handling 2,777,519 tonnes, up 2.1 per cent on 2011.

But the good news was tempered by the knowledge that Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and Dragonair will no longer be Hactl customers as they open up their own air cargo terminal in Hong Kong next month.

Said Hactl executive director Lilian Chan:"2013 will be challenging for us as Cathay Pacific Airways migrates to self-handling and we relinquish their business in phases throughout the year.

"We are well-prepared, and our 100 other airline customers have been growing as a proportion of our total business, which will cushion the overall impact," said Ms Chan.

Hactl said the result was 4.2 per cent short of the company's all-time record of 2,899,603 tonnes, which was set in the post-recession bounce of 2010.

The fourth quarter of 2012 saw total traffic rise 6.2 per cent from 754,226 the previous year. The cargo handler described this as being the best total tonnage and best annual growth in any quarter since the first quarter of 2011.

The fourth quarter was also the best quarter for exports in 2012. November's figure of 142,632 tonnes was the best in 2012, while December's was the third best. December's imports figure of 61,659 tonnes made it 2012's top import month.

The quarter was positively impacted by traffic from five new carrier customers since September, Air Astana with twice-weekly B757s, Globus Airlines with twice-weekly B737s, SF Airlines with five-times-weekly B737Fs, Uni-top Airlines with chartered B747Fs and Vladivostok Air with twice-weekly A320s.

The fourth quarter also saw a boom in freighter services handled by Hactl, as carriers brought in 42 charter flights from late October to December, to help cope with the pre-Christmas boost in cargo traffic.

Said Hactl's Ms Lilian Chan: "2012 ended stronger than we expected. Despite the continuing uncertainty in Europe and the US, our figures have maintained a modest and steady recovery that hopefully will become a sustainable trend."