Hong Kong’s Air Freight Capacity Significantly Enhanced
Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Lam Sai-hung, wrote that two major logistics projects have recently been inaugurated and put into operation. Coupled with the full commissioning of the airport's Three-Runway System expected next year, Hong Kong’s air freight handling capacity has been significantly enhanced.
This October and November have been a bumper season for Hong Kong’s air-freight logistics. On Tuesday, I attended the opening ceremony of Phase III of DHL’s Central Asia Hub—DHL Express’s largest infrastructure investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Last month also saw the completion and commissioning of the Gaoluwang High-End Logistics Centre, led by Cainiao Network. Together with the planned full operation of the Third Runway System at the airport next year, these two major logistics projects have greatly enhanced Hong Kong’s air-cargo handling capacity, enabling us to soar to new heights as an international aviation and logistics hub.
DHL’s Top Three Global Hubs
Located at the heart of Asia, Hong Kong is within four hours’ flight of most major Asian cities—and the Asia-Pacific region encompasses some of the world’s fastest-growing markets. Since its establishment at Hong Kong International Airport in 2004, the DHL Central Asia Hub has been one of DHL Express’s three global super-hubs, handling over 45% of its intra-Asia traffic and nearly 20% of its worldwide volume. With Phase III now partial-in operation, the hub has grown 50% in warehouse area to 49,500 m², and its peak hourly throughput has increased 70% to 125,000 pieces. Once fully operational, it will handle up to 1.06 million tonnes of cargo annually—a 50% rise over its previous capacity and six times the throughput at its 2004 opening.
Phase III works were completed and began operations in March. Following Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting, the Chief Secretary and I toured the facility’s state-of-the-art fully automated parcel-handling system, which—combined with CT X-ray scanning and automated sorting—now processes suspicious items twice as fast as before.
Hong Kong’s Third-Largest Logistics Warehouse—Gaoluwang High-End Logistics Centre
Also commencing operations last month, this centre is a joint venture between Alibaba’s Cainiao Network, Air China Group, and YTO Express. Spanning 5.3 hectares with 380,000 m² of floor space, it meets the highest environmental standards and employs cutting-edge technology to serve the booming cross-border e-commerce needs of SMEs. At full capacity, it is expected to bring an additional 1.7 million tonnes of air cargo to Hong Kong International Airport each year.
The launch of these two logistics projects comes just in time for the traditional year-end peak: Black Friday and Cyber Monday next Friday, followed by the golden Christmas shopping season. I see e-commerce platforms worldwide are already gearing up with a host of promotions. Thanks to Hong Kong’s rapid transport and logistics development, products from around the globe are literally just “one click away.” I encourage everyone to take advantage of this period to choose gifts online for friends and family—chances are your orders will pass through one of these two new logistics centres on their way to you. I wish all logistics providers and businesses a prosperous peak season!