North America is a hot market for Cathay Pacific. And unlike many other air cargo carriers that are exiting the freighter market, this Hong Kong-based airline sees opportunities. The company has been on a roll.
For starters, in October 2013, the carrier launched service to Guadalajara, Mexico, and earlier this year added Mexico City with thrice-weekly scheduled service. At the same time, the airline increased the frequency of its service to Guadalajara from two to three freighter flights per week using Cathay Pacific’s newest and biggest freighter, the Boeing 747-8F. In October this year, a fourth flight was added on the routing.
That routing is Hong Kong-Los Angeles-Guadalajara-Mexico City-Hong Kong.
“We are in the process of increasing our freighter service to five times a week to those markets,” revealed Fred Ruggiero, vice president for cargo, Americas, Cathay Pacific Cargo.
In addition, freighter service was added in March 2014 to Rickenbacker International Airport (LCK) in Columbus, Ohio. “That service started off purely twice weekly as a charter service handling 50 tons for one customer,” reported Ruggiero. “But in September, we turned it into a full freighter service handling freight for all customers inbound and outbound. We also increased the flight to three times a week.”
Additional freighter frequencies included increased service to New York (JFK) eight times a week. Freighter service to Chicago O’Hare also has been increased from seven, to eight, then to 10 flights a week. “During the peak holiday season, which we are heading into now, we will have as many as 12 flights a week,” Ruggiero said.
Los Angeles went from six, to eight, and 10 flights per week, and increased in November to 12 flights per week for freighters. “This is in addition to the four passenger flights we have into LAX with Boeing 777 aircraft that can take 15 to 20 tonnes of freight,” he added.
There have also been increases in passenger service. For example, Cathay Pacific increased pax flights to JFK to five times a day using 777s, which offer additional opportunities for freight – particularly with the holiday season.
“We are bullish on this Christmas season and economy,” Ruggiero said. “For example, we know that when Apple comes out with new products, Americans buy them.” Apple recently introduced a new iPhone and new iPad models.
Other bullish maneuvers for Cathay Pacific are the big oil and gas markets of Texas and Alberta, where manufacturers have flocked to build oil and gas machinery and equipment to serve local and overseas markets.
“We currently operate freighter service into Houston five times a week,” he says. “When we started with thrice-weekly service, people thought we were crazy. But the service was ramped up quickly to five times a week.”
Cathay Pacific commenced twice-weekly service to Calgary on October 18.
“Calgary is our third station in Canada, which complements our service into Toronto and Vancouver,” commented Ruggiero.
But given the energy industry, Cathay Pacific executives see a lot of similarities between the Calgary and Houston markets.
“Unlike a lot of other cargo markets, Calgary doesn’t offer a steady flow of cargo every day,” he said. “But what it does have is a lot of oil and gas equipment shipments. And the frequent unplanned shipments can amount to a lot.”
Calgary also offers opportunities to transport meat products, which more Asians desire, given changing diets and higher incomes that offer discretionary spending. Alberta has a strong traditional in cattle ranching.
The routing for the Cathay Pacific freighter service to/from Calgary is Hong Kong-Anchorage for a fuel stop-Columbus LCK-New York JFK-Calgary.
“This routing offers a balanced load,” Ruggiero emphasized.
The service is operated by Boeing 747-8F freighters that fly machinery and perishables direct from Calgary to Hong Kong to connect with Cathay’s extensive Asian network.
Ruggiero reveals that Cathay drops off and picks freight up in Columbus and in JFK.
“In addition to importing a lot of garments, Columbus exports garments as well, in addition to test cars, and especially auto parts,” he explained. “And coming out of JFK – well you name it. It’s a strange market with anything from currency, jewelry, fine artwork, helicopters and spools of aluminum.”
Between the three stations (Columbus-LCK, New York-JFK and Calgary), Cathay can fly eastbound with full aircraft.
“We build it and often have more freight outbound than we have space,” Ruggiero said. “Then we look to see what stop we take off. We may fly Hong Kong, Columbus, and Calgary and send a separate flight to JFK. That’s how we build our network. We started with 20 freighters a week, and built it up to 25 then 28.”
This past year, Cathay Pacific averaged around 30 to 35 freighters a week, including charters. “In the peak holiday season, we will have as many as 40 freighters in operation,” he said.
Cathay Pacific’s cargo fleet encompasses 22 freighters. Of those, 12 are B747-8Fs and 10 are B747-400Fs. A thirteenth 747-8F is on order.
By Karen E Thuermer
Correspondent | Washington
