A Cathay Pacific cargo plane takes off from the Hong Kong International Airport. Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's biggest carrier, announced Friday it will launch its first round-the-globe freighter service route in July. Jerome Favre/Bloomberg

Route extends through North America, Europe and western Asia

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said Friday it will launch its first round-the-world freighter service on July 9, offering customers wider choices and helping further develop the city's position as a leading international air cargo hub.

Hong Kong's flag carrier has spent months developing the new route, which will initially be operated twice weekly, every Friday and Sunday, using a Boeing 747-400 freighter. The flight will leave Hong Kong and fly via Anchorage to Chicago. From there it will fly onward to Amsterdam and Dubai before returning to Hong Kong.

This kind of multi-stop global service allows cargo freighters to function like long-range buses with several fixed stops, i.e., with pick-ups, drops and trips of varying lengths, depending on the initial and ultimate destinations, and for numerous unrelated clients.

"We are very excited about the launch of this new freighter service, which will further strengthen our cargo network and also help in the continued development of Hong Kong's airfreight hub role - something to which our airline is deeply committed," said Rupert Hogg, Cathay Pacific's Director Cargo.

The round-the-world flight is an extension of Cathay Pacific's existing service to Chicago - the airline currently serves the city with eight flights per week. The flight from the United States to Amsterdam marks the first time for Cathay Pacific to ever operate a transatlantic service. In total, the round-the-world flight will take 44.5 hours to complete, including ground time to uplift freight.

"Cathay is setting its sights on the long-term prospect for the high-end cargo market," Yoyo Bai, an aviation analyst at CSC Securities (HK) Ltd, told China Daily.

China is striving hard to upgrade its industries and transform its manufacturing activities into high value-added production, she explained.

Bai said that as a result of this government-led economic transformation, high valued-added products will account for a higher proportion of the country's total exports in the foreseeable future, to which she added that high-end cargoes are usually shipped out by air transport, creating new demand for airfreight services.

"It is a sound move for Cathay to launch such services, considering the fact that the carrier is based in Hong Kong, the key transshipment hub for mainland cargoes," the analyst said of Cathay's new initiative.

Cathay Pacific has been working hard to strengthen its services to and from Hong Kong in response to the recent global upswing in airfreight markets, and has just announced it will strengthen its freighter route to Houston and Miami. From July 2 the airline will fly four times weekly to Houston and five times each week to Miami.

Air cargo volumes rose 26 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, and shippers and cargo executives expect a strong 2010, although growth could slow in the second half, the International Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.

Cathay Pacific is also reinforcing its commitment to the continued development of Hong Kong as a leading international air cargo hub through the construction of its own new cargo terminal and the continued expansion of its freighter fleet.

Development of the HK$5.5 billion Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal at the Hong Kong International Airport is now underway, with the facility set to come into operation in 2013. In terms of strengthening its fleet, the airline has 10 Boeing 747-8F freighters on firm order, with deliveries set to commence in January 2011.

China Daily

(HK Edition 06/05/2010 page3)