Airport Authority Hong Kong wins Digital - Aviation category at Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards 2026

The company enabled 100% paperless processing across all three cargo terminals.

Airport Authority Hong Kong received the Digital - Aviation category at the Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards 2026 in Hong Kong for Hong Kong Air Import SmartCollect. SmartCollect is the world's first fully digitalised air import cargo collection process, transforming cargo collection at Hong Kong International Airport by replacing paper forms, counter visits, physical stamps, and fragmented status updates with a single digital workflow and coordinated access across the air cargo community.

Before the rollout, consignees had to move between terminal counters and regulator offices to submit documents, obtain clearances results, and confirm cargo status. Manual checks and offline communication also limited visibility across the collection process. SmartCollect addressed these issues through a unified web portal and mobile application for participating users.

The platform covered order assignment, authorisation, ePayment, electronic Shipment Release Form issuance, Customs clearance, queuing, and terminal exit. Its eStamp function recorded clearance digitally, whilst ePouch provided online access to shipping documents. eAuthorization created auditable collection records through iAMSmart, and eQueue allowed users to join queues before arriving on site.

Airport Authority Hong Kong also brought cargo terminal operators, government regulators, freight forwarders, delegates, truckers, and technology partners onto the same platform. This common workflow reduced reliance on repeated document handovers and gave participants access to current cargo information through their phones or computers.

Following the full rollout, the application supported paperless cargo collection across Hong Kong’s cargo terminals. Participants reported simpler document retrieval, clearer process visibility, smoother collection, and better deployment of terminal resources. 

The platform has also reduced reliance on service counter manpower and manual processes, enhancing operational efficiency, responsiveness, and green process.

Further development will extend SmartCollect to overseas origin airports, shippers, and consignees. Planned connections across the supply chain will support wider cargo traceability and resource planning. The project also identified possible links with financial institutions to support data-based trade financing services for small and medium enterprises.

The Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards is Hong Kong's most prestigious platform honouring groundbreaking achievements in technology. This esteemed awards programme recognises companies and organisations that are driving innovation, transforming industries, and setting new benchmarks for excellence in Hong Kong’s dynamic tech landscape.

The Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards is presented by Hong Kong Business Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2027 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions in pursuit of technological innovation, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at +(65) 3158 1386 or [email protected].