Hactl upgrades cargo management system

Officials from Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd. (Hactl) have announced that Hactl SuperTerminal 1 will transition to a new airfreight management system in December. This modernisation is a key part of Hactl’s HK$240 million (US$30.9 million) initiative to upgrade its facilities. COSAC-Plus, which will replace the technology Hactl has utilised for the past 17 years and will expedite Customs’ clearance and facilitate improved integration with airlines’ systems, the terminal operator said. It will also offer better cargo-tracking features than its predecessors, COSAC and COSAC2, a Hactl spokesman added. “The original COSAC was a groundbreaking system, which took Hactl to the forefront of its industry in 1976, and began a tradition of innovation that continues to this day,” HACTL solutions’ director, Tan Chee Hong said. COSAC2, which was deployed at Hactl in 1994, brought new innovations to the field by providing forwarders and government officials with web-based connections and enabling electronic Customs clearance. The system was then upgraded four years later to accommodate operations at Hactl’s Chek Lap Kok SuperTerminal 1. Hactl also received a boost in mid- October with the arrival of the inaugural B747-8F flight when launch customer Cargolux flew the 134-tonne-payload aircraft into Hong Kong from its Luxembourg hub before routing through Baku, Azerbaijan and Budapest. It’s a route that will be performed four times a week, a Hactl spokesman said.