Hong Kong is the world's fastest-growing air cargo market, with growth seen at an average of 12.2 percent per year, said International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Giovanni Bisignani.

"Asia is the most profitable region in the world," he told reporters ahead of an industry forum in Hong Kong," he added.

All of China's top three airlines, Air China Ltd, China Southern Airlines Co Ltd and China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd, as well as Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd have forecast strong profit growth of between two and 15 times for 2010.

China has been investing heavily in transport infrastructure. It has said it will plough about 30 billion yuan ($4.56 billion) over the next five years into new airport projects in the western region of Xinjiang alone.

China's air cargo volume would rise 11.7 percent per year to 3.8 million tons in 2014 from 2.1 million tonnes in 2009, it said. The increase would just trail that of Hong Kong, whose air cargo volume should grow to 5.3 million tons in 2014 from 3 million in 2009.

Bisignani urged Hong Kong to build a third runway for its international airport. "A third runway is needed and the time to start planning is now." (Reuters)