TO MEET an unprecedented surge in demand for e-commerce shipments, Cathay Pacific Cargo is launching a new weekly B747-400ERF (extended range) freighter service between Hong Kong and Riyadh in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, writes Thelma Etim.

The new freighter frequency, which will operate on Tuesdays with a stopover in Dubai (DWC) on the return flight to Hong Kong, gets under way on 5 January. “These new flights will meet strong demand for shipments [into Saudi Arabia] of e-commerce and other general cargo, such as garments and provides our customers with reliable, efficient and direct air cargo services offering the high level of quality for which Cathay Pacific Cargo is known,” insists a statement.

From the tail end of last year, the freight division of Cathay Pacific Airways launched a number of scheduled and charter services. On 16 December, the carrier commenced a seasonal cargo service between Hong Kong and Hobart, the capital city of Australia’s island state of Tasmania, providing “an important airfreight lane” for the export of fresh produce from Hobart to various parts of Asia via Hong Kong, the company points out.

Cathay Cargo has also introduced a temporary service to Pittsburgh in the United States to serve the seasonal upsurge in demand there.

In response to the worldwide dearth of belly-hold cargo capacity due to the global health pandemic, and whilst continuing to operate a full freighter flight schedule, the airline has operated thousands of cargo-only passenger aircraft flights – some with shipments also loaded inside passenger cabins – and chartered hundreds of flights from its Air Hong Kong all-cargo subsidiary to provide additional airfreight capacity.