A four times weekly air freight service from Hong Kong to Paris to meet demand from French importers has been announced by a leading freight forwarding company. American Airlines and US Airways Cargo have produced May tonnage figures showing a significant increase; they reported positive combined traffic growth in May 2014 of 204.9 million cargo tonne miles (CTM), a 6.4% rise against the same period in 2013.
France Diplomatie, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, released figures indicating imports from Hong Kong, principally jewellery, time-pieces, toys and a variety of communication devices, have seen a rise since 2012 of 11.6% reaching €272 million this year. Hong Kong remains an important gateway for goods coming from southern China.