Pacifying Air Cargo
10th March 2025
Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is a vast aviation centre and officially the busiest cargo airport in the world. Home carrier Cathay Pacific naturally has a substantial cargo operation there, as David Priestman reports.
Half the world’s population live within five hours of Hong Kong. With 1100 daily flights to 220 destinations, and three runways, HKIA, also known as Chek Lap Kok, is a true 24/7 operation. Annual cargo capacity is 5 million tonnes, with 2023 throughput of 4.3m tonnes, which is back to pre-covid levels. This ranks HKIA above Memphis (home of FedEx), Shanghai Pudong, Anchorage (surprisingly), Incheon (Korea), Louisville (UPS base), Miami and Doha.
Amongst HKIA’s particular freight advantages are the cold chain facilities, which are IATA accredited for temperature-control. This means pharmaceutical and specialised freight can be well catered for. The airport authority also is also highly-focused on ecommerce, connectivity and digitalization.
Sensitive Handling
Tom Owen is Cargo Director for Cathay. Speaking at the ALMAC conference in Hong Kong (see pages 6-10) he set out the company’s targets. “We’re a top 5 combination cargo carrier,” he stated. Cathay Pacific utilises its own dedicated cargo fleet, including twenty Boeing 747 freighters, and its passenger aircraft belly capacity. Six new A350F have been ordered, with an option for twenty more. The company has a handling capacity of 2.7m tonnes at HKIA. “We’re focused on our ability to handle sensitive, temperature-controlled and dangerous cargo, as well as time-sensitive items,” he added. “We have a net zero target of 2050, using carbon offsetting with our ‘Fly Greener’ initiative, and already 10% of our jet fuel is sustainable (SAF).”
Cathay also owns 60% of Air Hong Kong, which operates an express cargo network to nine countries. DHL owns the other 40% stake and uses Air Hong Kong extensively for regional freight carriage (see page 46). Cathay Cargo also benefits from HKIA’s Dongguan Logistics Park, up the Pearl Delta of the Greater Bay Area in mainland China, by being able to ship manufacturer’s cargo from there directly to an airside intermodal cargo pier at the airport. Export cargo can therefore be processed upstream at a lower cost.
Cathay Cargo’s terminal at HKIA is the newest one there and eleven years old. Import and export, transhipment and cross-border land express freight is managed from here, for ULD containers and other cargo, such as pre-packed pallets (handled by a fleet of Unicarriers forklifts), special goods (including live animals), bulky and loose items. The warehouse has an impressive 2445 container storage positions, featuring Dambach cranes in the bulk store, and 170 truck docks or loading bays. With 1800 staff, including contractors, it is a 24/7 operation, every day of the year.
Getting Fresh
Cargo Terminal Chief Operating Officer, Mark Watts, explained the total cold chain solution on offer, which is secured via the usage of thermal dollies, inflatable truck door seals at the loading bay and multi-temperature cold rooms – one of which I can testify to being bracingly cold in contrast to the ambient weather here! Cathay has developed its own design ULD – ‘MobiFresh’ (pictured). Temperature in them can be remotely controlled and they feature location tracking.
“While Cathay Cargo Terminal is a 100% subsidiary of Cathay Pacific and our largest customer is the Cathay group, including Cathay Cargo, Air Hong Kong and HK Express, our terminal business is run at arms’ length from the airline side of the business and we also serve a diverse range of airlines such as ANA Cargo, China Cargo Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, Swiss World Cargo, EgyptAir Cargo and others,” Watts told me.
An end-to-end digital import process is the goal, with business customers using online bookings and epayment methods. Lithium battery screening in the warehouse is an unique selling point for Cathay Cargo. Watts is also keen to emphasise the significant recycling of plastic wrap in the facility, which is being increased in a bid for circularity.
November 2024 tonnage was 15% higher year-on-year. Cathay Cargo observed healthy market momentum during the peak season, driven by e-commerce sales events, while the cargo load factor (a metric that measures how well a vehicle’s cargo capacity is being used) rose to 62%. There was high demand for perishables from the Americas and Southwest Pacific, with significant deliveries to Hong Kong and other regional routes in Asia. Additionally, there was an increase in tonnage for the ‘Cathay Expert’ solution due to transportation of machinery and engines, especially from Japan. November also saw the successful launch of the ‘Cathay Courier’ campaign and this year the airline is adding flights to Rome to its schedule.
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