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Coming out of a so-so year, Cathay looks to ways it can do things better

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways is filling its freighters again, but the yields are a far cry from what they were a year ago when US west coast dock strife caused a mass stampede to air freight.

"I don't think we will open any new freighter destinations," said Cathay cargo chief Mark Sutch. "In the US, we have all the big gateways covered, and some more. In Europe, we have lots of belly capacity."

So instead of increasing volumes, Cathay now looks to improve service capabilities, such as introducing a new reservation system that will enable the carrier to act faster on pricing and booking.

"The system we are replacing is 30-odd-years-old," Mr Sutch said.

Cathay is also honing skills in special cargo, such as pharmaceuticals, a fast-growing segment, having already done well in this on European and Australian routes.

"We will also put a lot of focus on India in 2016 and 2017," said Mr Sutch, adding that Cathay will pursue Indian traffic, both to other Asian destinations and to the US.

Perishables have established themselves as another growth segment, notably flows into China. Cathay has been carrying large amounts of chilled and frozen beef and dairy products from Australia to China.

"We also see a lot of growth in perishables from Mexico and the US," Mr Sutch said.

Another major focus will be e-commerce-driven mail. "We see a spike in mail, also traffic from forwarders with package consolidations," he said.

Cathay is cooperating with postal services, particularly with Hong Kong Post, China Post and the Royal Mail, having already introduced mail scanning capability across its network.

Asia-Europe sector has been the weakest for Cathay. There has been a seasonal spike in demand, but not to a point where additional capacity was needed.

"We stick with our schedule of nine weekly flights. In the past we may have taken it up to 11, but we don't want to undermine our profitability," Mr Sutch said. He added that all Cathay's passenger flights to Europe use 777 aircraft, which offer ample cargo capacity.

Cathay plans to increase weekly freighter frequency from 37 to 42 flights. "To North America is where we are really going to see the major peak," he said.

Cathay stands to receive twelve A350s in the coming year. These planes will offer 17 to 18 tons of cargo capability, said Mr Sutch.