Air Hong Kong eyes mainland routes
Air Hong Kong, the all-cargo airline owned by Cathay Pacific Airways and DHL, is eyeing express cargo and freighter routes to the mainland.
Air Hong Kong commercial general manager James Tong said: “We are actively looking at the mainland. We are evaluating and studying very closely with DHL and freight forwarders what kind of cargo volumes would be carried.” About 80% of the carrier’s cargo volumes are express shipments from DHL, which owns a 40% stake in Air Hong Kong. David Saechiu, Air Hong Kong chief operating officer, said: “China is on our list. We hope to do something about it.” But he said there was no timeline when the services might start, adding that the airline did not have licences to operate to the mainland. With parent company Cathay Pacific about to launch a service to Beijing while trying to secure traffic rights to Shanghai and Xiamen, Saechiu said, “now is not a suitable time for Air Hong Kong to start operating to China. I wouldn’t say three years. I wouldn’t say five years. We’ll start when it’s appropriate.” He added “there is definitely pressure on us to do China flights”.
Saechiu, speaking at a lunch to reveal the airline’s new red logo, said the focus of the company was the introduction of six new Airbus A300-600F cargo planes to the Air Hong Kong fleet. Air Hong Kong is the launch customer for the A300-600F general freighter. The first aircraft will be delivered next September, followed by three more by the end of December 2004. The two remaining aircraft will arrive by March 31, 2005. The Air Hong Kong logo will be incorporated into a new yellow colour scheme to reflect the airline’s joint ownership.
Three of the aircraft will replace three that are leased to provide overnight cargo services to Tokyo, Bangkok and Singapore. The Singapore flights, which started on October 31 using an Airbus A300-600 leased from Icelandflug Airlines, replaced a Cathay Pacific service launched three years ago under the Starlight Express banner.
The three other aircraft will be used to start night-time express cargo services to Taipei, Osaka and Incheon and will replace some of the Starlight Express flights that Cathay Pacific launched in partnership with DHL in 2000. Under that agreement Cathay Pacific used passenger aircraft to operate what were essentially cargo flights, carrying DHL’s express packages in the bellyhold of the aircraft to a raft of Asian destinations. Saechiu said Air Hong Kong had steadily taken over some of the Starlight Express routes because cargo volumes had grown so much that the passenger aircraft were unable to cope with the demand. The Boeing 727 freighter, leased from Malaysia’s Transmile Air Services, can carry about 25 tonnes of freight, while the Airbus cargo aircraft have a capacity to carry between 40 tonnes and 50 tonnes. By comparison, the passenger aircraft operated by Cathay Pacific carry between 12 and 20 tonnes.
Saechiu said Air Hong Kong’s existing Boeing 747-200 freighter would probably be returned to Cathay Pacific because it would be expensive to maintain two types of aircraft in the fleet.
Turning to the aviation industry, he welcomed the privatisation of the airport but warned that it would have to be done carefully to avoid airlines and operators being driven away by high charges. He said: “I wouldn’t want to see the airport owner make excessive profits from airlines.” Source: The Standard.
