Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 2.3m tonnes of cargo in the first six months of 2017, soaring 11.3% over the same period last year and helped by an exports surge in June.

Cargo throughput in June was 410,000 tonnes, representing year-on-year growth of 11.4% at the world's number one freight hub in 2016.

Passenger throughput and flight movements climbed 1.3% and 0.9% year on year to 35.7m and 206,560 respectively.

The strong half year cargo result was due largely to higher exports coinciding with an improvement in global trade, said an HKIA spokesperson.

"A 17% year-on-year increase in June exports led to high growth in cargo tonnage for the month. Transhipments also registered strong 10% growth. Among key trading regions, Europe and North America saw the most significant increases in June."

On a rolling 12-month basis, cargo throughput increased 9.0% to 4.8m tonnes year on year. Passengers and flight movements grew 1.1% and 0.5% to 71m and 413,345 respectively.

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