Cathay Pacific Cargo said the existing quarantine measures for cabin crew being implemented in Hong Kong remains the biggest challenge to its freight operations, which it said is mainly impacting its long-haul services.

The cargo arm of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific also shared some updates on its operations as the coronavirus pandemic continues to drag the aviation industry.

"The biggest obstacle to normal operations remains the introduction of new crew quarantine measures, which commenced on 20 February," said George Edmunds, Cathay Cargo GM for Cargo Commercial. "These measures only affect airlines with Hong Kong-based aircrew and so apply to the vast majority of our pilots; therefore, there is an outsized impact on our operations relative to other carriers."

He noted that as a result of these stringent quarantine rules for cabin crew, the cargo carrier flew around 25% less cargo capacity overall in March, with our weekly freighter frequencies between Hong Kong and the US reduced from the usual 34 to around 21-28 flights per week.

"This schedule is further reduced this month as the crew who have volunteered for the closed-loop operation enter quarantine before a well-earned period of leave," he added.

The Hong Kong government has implemented a 14-day quarantine requirement for aircrew members, plus a week of medical surveillance, for the locally-based flight crew.

Major impact on long-haul operations

Edmunds said its long-haul operations were the most affected by the quarantine measures — but Cathay is looking at deploying more freighters in its short-haul operations where closed-loop operations are not required.

He also noted that aside from crew quarantine, the move of the US Department of Transport to request that Hong Kong-based airlines file flight schedules in advance add "administrative burden" to the carrier, but it "does not affect" the number of flights being operated by Cathay  — although there may be "some impact" on last-minute schedule additions.

"The major impact of these quarantine requirements is on our long-haul routes, in particular to Europe, Southwest Pacific and the Americas. We have therefore looked to redeploy more freighters on regional and short-haul routes where closed-loop operations are not required," Edmunds said.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Cargo's freighter operations to India are also being disrupted because of schedule filing issues — but the airline executive said the carrier is "working with the authorities on a resolution to this and operating ad hoc freighters and cargo-only passenger aircraft until a full schedule is confirmed."

"We are acutely aware of the impact this is having on our partners and shippers. We apologise for the disruption and thank our customers for their continued support and patience," Edmunds noted, maintaining, however, that these are "temporary issues."

"Once lifted we look forward to restoring our full market presence. In the interim, we are taking measures to offer as much capacity and flexibility as we can, and we will issue updates as soon as we can," he added.

2020: Most difficult year in Cathay's history

The Cathay Pacific Cargo executive noted that the carrier has demonstrated a "huge amount of agility" in 2020 — describing it as "the most difficult year in Cathay Pacific’s history."

Nonetheless, he cited how cargo became the "prime revenue generator" for the Cathay Pacific Group despite the loss of capacity from passenger bellies.

"On top of increasing the flying hours of our freighters, we have so far flown more than 6,500 cargo-only passenger flights and we take as much spare capacity as Air Hong Kong has available," Edmunds said.

He also said that the airline's future "is secure" citing the measures it has implemented to cut cash burn, raise funds, among others.

"This means we are in a good position to resume all our operations when the effects of the pandemic start to recede."

Outlook for operation

In his statement, Edmunds said that despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, the carrier "has not lost sight of our long-term objectives."

He said the airline continues to pursue its aim to become more customer-centric through the digitisation of the air cargo industry and its processes.

"We have recently taken part in our third IATA ONE Record pilot – the first pilot in our home hub," he said, adding that ONE Record will become the new industry standard, and its new data handling not only allows for end-to-end transparency but can also bundle more information into each shipment record, including data on carbon emissions.

"We intend to play a role in setting future industry standards with our partners. We’re staying agile in the current climate, but always with an eye on the future," Edmunds said.