Cathay Cargo is looking ahead to a busy peak season this year, with the growth momentum seen in the first half of 2024, expected to continue through the rest of the year.

Andress Lam, head of cargo digital at Cathay, said the Hong Kong-headquartered airline has so far been busy halfway through the first half of the year.

"Here we are at the halfway point of the year. It has been a busy one so far, and that looks set to continue," she said, speaking at the airline's Cargo Clan publication.

"In terms of the business, we expect demand to remain robust as it has been throughout the first five months of 2024."

Lam noted that market sentiment, particularly in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, remains positive, and Cathay will continue to adjust its freighter capacity to suit customers' needs.

"There is ongoing confidence in air-cargo demand, especially if congestion in ocean freight remains or worsens as we head towards the year-end peak," Cathay's head of cargo, digital, further said.

She went on to add that Hong Kong remains busy, and Cathay's freighter load factor remains high, particularly on the main trade lanes — as she shared that there is advanced inventory planning going on, with earlier preparation for the peak for key markets.

"We will continue to keep working with our freight forwarders to provide the capacity needs for their shippers as far as is practicable and to make sure we offer the highest level of services we can, including a stable schedule and network," Lam said, as she also welcomed back Barcelona and Riyadh passenger flights.

She added that Saudi Arabia, in particular, is another strong consumer market and an important country on the 'Belt and Road' network.

Cathay operates charter flights to RUH, but Lam noted that adding regular belly capacity with three flights a week is a welcome addition to the market.

On the solutions side, Lam said the airline relaunched its Cathay Expert solution, which is for out-of-gauge shipments or those that require extra care in handling. This includes artworks, massive equipment for the oil industry, and aircraft engines.

"In my new role as Head of Cargo Digital, I'm also delighted to say that there is a digital element to Cathay Expert — by unifying some back-office systems, we can reduce the approval time for these bespoke shipments. Our outport teams can now enter size and weight digitally and get a decision back from the Cargo Operation Centre in Hong Kong within five hours — halving the confirmation time — for floating positions and in just one hour for standard positions," Lam said.

Cathay's Head of Cargo Digital went on to note that the airline's focus this year will be on engineering back-end systems to make the front-end of our Cathay Cargo website more of a one-stop shop cargo services hub, with improved track and trace and the ability to manage bookings.

"And with confidence growing in a busy year-end, that could prove to be very helpful," Lam said.