Cathay Pacific anticipates fierce cargo competition this summer

Over the summer, Cathay Pacific anticipates a more competitive air cargo market and will increase the number of freighter flights it operates to North America. Lavinia Lau, the company's chief customer and commercial officer, announced that additional freighter flights to Toronto and Miami would be added over the summer. She noted that while the summer months are typically slower, no significant increase in demand is anticipated until the third quarter's end. "As overall cargo demand falls short of supply, we also expect increasingly fierce competition. "We will continue to identify new demand as we rebuild our capacity through the growth of the widebody passenger network and adjust the timetables of our freighters as necessary. "As a result, Toronto and Miami will have more freighter capacity." As it begins to resume passenger and cargo operations after lockdowns in Hong Kong last year, the carrier reports improvements in cargo volumes. The airline did issue a warning, noting that the overall cargo market was still flat and that cargo traffic was outpacing the market's capacity growth. According to Lau, the market volume was basically unchanged in May. "High inventory levels contributed to the persistent underperformance of high-tech demand and new consumer goods shipments. However, the e-commerce sector remained largely active, and as passenger services returned, aircraft engine volumes increased in the special solution segment. As a result of capacity expansion, the carrier saw cargo tonne kilometres in May rise 73.4% year over year to 654 million.

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Virgin Atlantic Airlines to start 90 cargo flights worldwide weekly from May

With the surging demand for Corona virus related items Virgin Atlantic Airlines is planning to operate 90 cargo flights per week starting May .

With four A 350 freighter capable of carrying 49 tonnes of goods Virgin Atlantic Airlines has overall 14 aircrafts available for cargo only operations.

The airlines is planning to target US, Hong kong , China, India, Israel & South Africa as major freight markets.

The airlines May programme is as below :

• Daily flights to/from Shanghai
• 3 services weekly to/from Johannesburg
• 17 flights a week from JFK
• 9 flights to/from Los Angeles
• 2 weekly flights to/from Mumbai
• 4 weekly service to/from HKG
• 2 weekly flight to/from Tel Aviv
• 2 weekly flight to/from JFK & Los Angeles to Dublin

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Weekly Air freight service for China - Africa sector by DHL

DHL Global Forwarding has launched weekly air freight service to move cargo from China to Africa via Dubai route..

The weekly freighter service will have a capacity to carry 100 tonnes of cargo. The forwarder said that it will consolidate all cargo from across China in Guangzhou & move it via Dubai to various destinations in Africa & Middle East as Dubai plays key role as gateway between China & rest of Africa.

The forwarder said that this service is specially for organisations & governments who want to ship goods from China to Africa & Middle East.

Starting April 21, the service will operate for four weeks initially however DHL Global is actively seeking to secure all routes to Africa in longer term.


As per forwarder the bulk of the cargo will comprise of protective gears like masks, gloves, sanitisers & goggles .

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