New cargo terminal with Siemens equipment opens at Hong Kong Airport

One of the largest cargo terminals in the world has gone into operation at Hong Kong International Airport. Under an order from Cathay Pacific Services Ltd., Siemens has equipped the terminal with modern storage and conveying systems. The new terminal has been designed for a throughput of 2.6 million metric tons of freight per year, thereby increasing the annual capacity of the airport's existing terminals by 50 percent to 7.4 million tons.

The new terminal building covers a total area of around 240,000 square meters. More than 6,600 storage spaces are able to accommodate unit load devices (ULDs) and pallets. Siemens supplied and installed the storage and conveying systems, as well as the automation and electrical equipment. The automated installation is controlled by a warehouse management and order picking computer from Siemens. It ensures the fastest possible throughput times for cargo and the shortest possible waiting times for planes and trucks.

The handling processes at the new terminal were specially adapted to the requirements at Hong Kong International Airport because particularly large quantities of transit and export cargo are handled there compared to other hubs. There are around 2,400 storage spaces for ULDs, 2,560 conveyors, 119 work stations and 170truck docks at the terminal to handle the cargo flow. A further 4,200 storage spaces, 16 automatic storage and retrieval systems and 1,440 conveyors were installed for the bulk cargo system.

The international airport in Hong Kong is one of Asia's most important aviation hubs and is the world's largest airport for cargo. Around half of the world's population can be reached within five hours' flying time from there. The key Chinese markets are only about four hours away. 750 flights from all over the world land there every day. Some 45 cargo airlines fly out of Hong Kong to international destinations.