Stronger demand in Europe for mainland products kept the airport's cargo business in the black last month.
Chek Lap Kok's top freight handling company, Hongkong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (Hactl), yesterday reported the goods it handled rose 3 per cent from May last year to 157,000 tonnes, despite a 52 per cent reduction in passenger flights because of the Sars outbreak.
'The result is pretty steady. Imports were a little disappointing but that is a reflection of the regional economies in the past few weeks,' Hactl marketing director Summit Chan said.
Imports dropped about 4 per cent year on year.
The industry traditionally relies on passenger fleets to move half of its freight and Asian carriers had cut about 1,150 weekly flights at the peak of the outbreak. One analyst said the impact from Sars on cargo would probably have had less impact than global currency fluctuations.
Exports to the United States, which drove Hactl's record numbers last year, fell a comparative 2.8 per cent last month.