Spent much of today visiting the Hong Kong Airport’s Cargo Terminal. Hong Kong is the busiest cargo airport in the world.
As you can imagine, the cargo terminal is enormous. We seemed to walk over nearly every inch of it and saw all sorts of cargo being moved, including fresh (live) seafood. The staff there is hugely impressive. It is also worth noting the intermodal nature of cargo here: it moves by air, land and sea, all right here.
The fact is that 40 percent of world trade (by value) travels by air. The stakes are huge. Here in Hong Kong they have invested greatly in automating their processes to keep things moving as efficiently as possible. They have also invested greatly in security, a huge issue all over the world.
Hong Kong sits within a five hour flight of HALF the world’s population. That is certainly a strong selling point for Hong Kong.
The movement of 40 percent of the value of the world’s trade is yet another important, and under-reported, role airports play. Think of all the jobs THAT supports. ACI-NA’s annual Cargo Conference will be held in just a few weeks in Seattle and is an increasingly important event. The event will cover the range of key issues faced by the cargo industry.
Posted by Greg 
