Cathay Pacific Cargo is expanding its cargo capacity in the coming weeks as the freight carrier welcomed Hong Kong government's move to ease Covid-19 restrictions in the city including adjustments to crew quarantine rules.
George Edmunds, GM Cargo Commercial at Cathay said the airline will be resuming more freight services following the easing of restrictions in the major air cargo hub.
"It's nice to start with some good news. We welcome the Hong Kong SAR Government's adjustments to the crew quarantine and medical surveillance requirements as of 1 May 2022," Edmunds said.
"This will allow us to progressively resume more cargo flights from May onwards, and we will therefore be making adjustments to our schedule in the coming weeks."
Cathay Cargo provided 48% more lift in March than it did in January, largely to India and north-east Asia, with more routes set to launch this month.
The carrier has also reopened flights to the south-west Pacific, and that it had flown to Europe for the first time this year last month.
The carrier was forced to suspend all long-haul cargo flights earlier this year as the city imposed tighter quarantine rules — impacting air cargo crew rotations — as Hong Kong battled the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid in the city.
Supply chains remain fragile
Despite this, Edmunds said challenges remain as Covid lockdowns in China is seen to impact supply chains further.
"Other events in the first quarter only go to show the continued fragility of supply chains as we continue the recovery from the pandemic," Edmunds said. "The situation remains dynamic, and events such as the outbreaks in Hong Kong and Shanghai happen quickly and have far-reaching consequences."
The Cathay Cargo executive noted, however, that the airline has become "much more flexible and agile" over the past two years to deal with these ever-changing challenges.
"This was demonstrated again in the first quarter. Since grounding all our long-haul flights in the first week of January to adjust to the new crew quarantine requirements, we've been able to enhance our schedules and our crewing patterns," Edmunds said.
"However, the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong and Shanghai continues to have an impact on the flow of goods. Constraints on the movement of cross-border trucks have limited the inflow from the Greater Bay Area to Hong Kong," he added.
Edmunds continued that while this issue remains, Cathay Cargo have been able to adapt by greater use of sea feeders to ports in Hong Kong; unloading cargo from ship to truck for transfer to the airport.
"Additionally, our colleagues in the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal have been working with the Airport Authority to kick-start the feed of cargo from the logistics park in Dongguan to the airport’s Sky Pier," he said.
"This has proven that this sea-to-air solution works, and gives us confidence in the future of this initiative. These marine solutions have allowed volumes to recover partially, but they remain far below the level we would want," Edmunds added.
Shanghai lockdowns impact
Meanwhile, the Cathay executive further said that the lockdowns in Shanghai "continue to be an issue and have had a significant impact on demand" with transport constrained and manufacturing output reduced.
"We have mounted additional services to other ports in Mainland China to alleviate this, and we continue to monitor the situation," Edmunds said.
Despite these challenges, Cathay Pacific Cargo noted Hong Kong reclaimed its spot as the number one cargo hub in 2021.
"We are proud to have contributed to that. However, current events make us all too aware that this is a fragile status but we will do all we can to protect it," Edmunds went on.
Cathay Cargo is also continuing to invest and improve its services with the launch of its new Priority Solution this month putting tiers of priority on shipments.
The airline executive said this is all part of Cathay's efforts to become the world's most customer-centric air-cargo service provider.