12Dawn has not long broken - Cathay Pacific

f
’s
p.
4Palettes are loaded into the side
door of the A300F that gives the
aircraft the ability to accept all
kinds of freight. As well as small
packages, DHL has the ability to
carry much larger freight items
loaded onto open pallets.
LIVERY
e carrier adds value to CX and its principal customer, DHL
of general freight
in addition to small
packages, making them ideal
for meeting DHL’s requirements
as well as giving AHK the ability to
sell unused space to CX.
Two more A300-600Fs were added in
May and June 2006 and the three BCFs were
transferred across from CX in 2011.
While the general airfreight industry has been
stuck in a deep trough for the past two years,
express freight has been much more buoyant.
“Last year was a strong one for AHK and we
enjoyed solid growth,” says Chief Executive Officer
Anna Thompson, who heads up a team of 134 staff that
includes 90 pilots.
“The regional economies have been buoyant and we’ve
seen intra-Asia express business growing. At the same time
DHL has been growing its regional market share and we’ve
benefited from that.”
The two wet-leased A300Fs were brought in early this
year and are being used to bolster services to Penang and
Ho Chi Minh City, while the BCFs serve on trunk routes such
as Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
“The sentiment for the express market is still very
positive and we’ve set a higher target for 2013,” says
Anna, adding that the team is looking to add two more
destinations to its network in 2014 once traffic rights
have been secured.
The Captain and First Officer
conduct the pre-flight checks
prior to departure for Hong
Kong. AHK employs 90 pilots,
the majority of whom are 6based outside Hong Kong.
5
Handling agent staff uses
brute force to push the
ULDs down the deck of
the freighter.
7
The flight is almost
ready to depart
Manila. AHK
operates five times
weekly to Manila
and in total operates
136 sectors around
its network in the
course of a week.
Freight bound for
Singapore goes onto
the much larger main
deck of one of AHK’s
three BCF freighters.
The BCFs primarily fly
between Hong Kong
and Singapore, Tokyo
and Shanghai, carrying
express shipments as
well as general cargo
for CX.
8
DHL’s Hong Kong hub is the heart
and soul of AHK regional network.
All AHK flights come through the
hub and in the course of one
night freight from up to 22 flights
will be handled by staff. AHK
carried a total of 225,829 tonnes
of freight in 2012.
7