Cathay Pacific pilots sea-air cargo service from GBA

by Payload Asia

A new pilot scheme in Hong Kong is expected to streamline the transport of outbound air freight coming from China’s Greater Bay Area, and Cathay Pacific is the first airline to be in the mix.

The carrier together with Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal, operated by Cathay Pacific Services Ltd (CPSL), are working with stakeholders to trial a sea-air link from Dongguan to Hong Kong airport.

This means shipments can be accepted in Dongguan where the airport authority has developed the HKIA Logistics Park, which enables shipments to be security screened, built up and accepted as cargo for flights before being loaded on ships that unload in a secured area at HKIA, from where pallets and ULDs can be towed straight to awaiting aircraft.

As part of the scheme, CPSL has signed an agreement with Hong Kong’ airport authority to operate in the pilot scheme and has established its own upstream bonded facility, named Cathay Cargo Terminal Dongguan.

Cathay said the new facility, located at the Bestar Logistics Centre in Dongguan, is fully compliant with Hong Kong’s air cargo security regulations, and export cargo can be screened, palletised and accepted for shipment by cargo terminal operators in Dongguan, before being transported seamlessly by ship to a secured pier area at HKIA for international transshipment via its passenger and freighter network. The pilot scheme’s base is planned to migrate to a permanent facility from 2025.

The initiative will offer security screening, palletisation and cargo acceptance of cargo in upstream, enabling exports from the GBA to be carried straight to the secured pier of HKIA by sea.

 

The aviation group noted that the scheme is open to Hong Kong freight forwarders that are “regulated agents” (RA) and have obtained acceptance from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department for their application of Supplementary Pages to Regulated Agent Security Programme (RASP), which extend the RAs’ remit to upstream operations. The HKIA Logistics Park in Dongguan uses CAD-approved X-ray machines and explosive trace detectors, which are operated by Hong Kong’s aviation security, AVSECO, the group noted.

Joining the Cathay Pacific Group in the pilot scheme were Bolloré, Cargo Link, DHL Global Forwarding, Dimerco and Yusen Logistics. Cargo director, Tom Owen, said the sea-air transshipment scheme will include inbound freight or imports into the GBA over the coming months.

Cathay Pacific Director Cargo Tom Owen (fourth from left), Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) Executive Director, Commercial Cissy Chan (fourth from right), Cathay Pacific Services Ltd Chief Operating Officer Mark Watts (third from left) and Airport Authority Hong Kong General Manager, Aviation Logistics Ian Kwok (third from right) at the signing ceremony