Cathay Pacific announced that it has resumed its full freighter schedule — the latest update in the airline's recovery after the industry-wide impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tom Owen, Cathay Pacific Director Cargo, said with this, the airline will be operating between 90 to 100 freighters each week.
"The big news for this month is the resumption of our full freighter schedule," Owen said.
He added that for the Americas that means about 35 transpacific freighters a week, and there will be a daily freighter service to Europe.
500 cargo-only flights planned
"We're also planning to operate more than 500 cargo-only-passenger flights a month around the region which will also provide strong lift over the next few months to feed our reactivated long-haul freighter services," Owen added.
The Cathay executive, noted, however, that some "short-term" challenges — especially on its Chinese Mainland schedule — still remain but the Hong Kong-based airline is working to build "schedule integrity" through the summer.
"We are delighted that we can finally put this capacity back into the long-haul market and we owe our Operations and Planning teams a huge debt of thanks for getting this up and running so quickly," Owen further said.
The airline executive noted that cargo income is "very important" for the carrier as its passenger flight capacity remains constrained — although he pointed out that this too is starting to rebuild over the coming months.
"The other big news this month was welcoming Swiss WorldCargo into our joint business with Lufthansa Cargo," Owen said, adding that the inclusion of Swiss WorldCargo brings the number of destinations that Cathay can now feed through Zurich up to 90.
"Over time this expansion will make us stronger as a carrier to and from Europe," he added.
Click & ship rollout on schedule
Meanwhile, the Cathay executive said its new online booking system, Click & Ship, has now been turned on in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.
Owen said the full global rollout, which is on schedule and will allow users to benefit from 24/7 sales, make the booking experience easier, and widen Cathay's distribution.
"At this particular moment, there is some pressure from more cargo belly capacity returning to the market, and some potential economic headwinds that may impact consumer confidence," Owen said.
"But we are rebuilding our schedule and network with that same confidence in the coming months we felt 40 years ago when we invested in our first Boeing 747 freighter," he added.
