2023 ATW Cargo Operator of the Year: Cathay Cargo

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways has a long and proud history in passenger and cargo operations, but with no domestic market, the pandemic-related border closures and COVID-19 restrictions brought the airline’s passenger operations almost to a standstill.

The company was quick to adapt. Within days, it shifted all operational focus and sales efforts to the Asia-Pacific region and to cargo.

Some 60%-65% of the cargo capacity was within APAC, including China, where all crew had to be in personal protective equipment while operating in difficult conditions on the tarmac and sleeping in dormitories.

Cathay flew around 5,000 cargo-only passenger services and converted six widebody aircraft into so-called preighters, with passenger seats removed.

The airline also introduced a three-tiered priority system that provides greater choice and better-defined service options to customers that are related to speed, capacity and assurance for every shipment. And Cathay has expanded the digitalization of its processes and extended its passenger airline Fly Greener carbon offset program to cargo operations.

Tom Owen, Cathay’s director-cargo, credits the dedicated employee force and deep ties with customers for tiding Cathay through the crisis, anchored by the carrier’s operational efficiency and reliability.

“We started Cathay Pacific 76 years ago as a cargo carrier and this is the first time that we have been awarded Cargo Operator of the Year. And to be recognized at the ATW Awards is a reflection of all the people in our organization, not just in cargo, but across the Cathay Group supporting cargo and particularly when we had huge operational challenges,” Owen said.

Heavy investments in future technologies and infrastructure have continued even as Cathay made necessary cost cuts.

“Cargo is a cyclical business. And it’s very important that we win in the market at all times. So if the market is weak, we just need to be doing better than the market, and when the market is very strong, we want to be doing better than the average,” Owen said. Cathay Cargo, as it is now branded, embarked on identifying key pain points and commenced on a digital transformation across four key areas, with the objective of reducing the end-to-end paper trail and improving simplicity and automation, especially from the customer’s viewpoint.

Cathay launched its Click & Ship system, which allows 24/7 booking capability, simplifies the booking process with freight forwarders, and improves pricing clarity.

Cathay also introduced UltraTrack, a tracking device that enables the client to track its cargo in real time along with providing environmental indicators such as temperature, humidity and pressure.

For the first time, the company now has an integrated view of all data points.

“It is a warehouse of information that allows us to cross reference data from different sources and present it in a unified dashboard to the user. It allows our teams to be much more active and successful in winning business, understanding customers pointing out problems when they arise, and making decisions based on data,” Owen explained.

The onset of the pandemic also reaffirmed Cathay Cargo’s pharmaceutical handling capabilities. Within two years, the company has built a new pharmaceutical handling center at its cargo terminal that doubles the terminal’s handling capacity and features a complete cold chain solution, including an inflatable truck shelter that protects temperature-sensitive cargo from the elements.

A new operating concept introduced in February is the intermodal Dongguan logistic park scheme, a partnership with the Hong Kong Airport Authority, Cathay Pacific and freight partners. Cargo is security-screened and palletized upstream in Dongguan, mainland China, before being put on a barge to be transported to Hong Kong Airport, from where it is loaded directly onto the aircraft.

In other examples of how Cathay Cargo has quickly responded to changing market conditions, the operator launched a new Mango Express service in late 2022, delivering 285 tonnes of Australia’s finest produce from Darwin to key global markets, including South Korea, Hong Kong and Shanghaito, to meet customer demand during the short peak season for the fruit. Cathay Cargo was able to do this by rerouting an existing cargo-only passenger operation back via Darwin from Sydney on its Boeing 777s, another example of the airline’s high flexibility in resource deployment.

Cathay Cargo also recommenced its seasonal cargo service between Hobart and Hong Kong, transporting Tasmanian produce to key Asian markets, as well as launching a new scheduled freighter service between Hong Kong and Riyadh to meet the strong demand for shipments of e-commerce and other general cargo, such as garments.

The 2023 ATW Cargo Operator of the Year is Cathay Cargo.