Cathay Pacific expands cargo presence in Americas with new service to Portland

Monday, 18 July 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced an expansion of its freighter services in the Americas with the addition of a twice-weekly scheduled service to Portland in Oregon, the United States, from 3 November 2016, subject to government approval. Portland will be Cathay Pacific’s 18thcargo station in the Americas.

The new Portland service will operate on a Hong Kong - Anchorage - Los Angeles - Portland - Anchorage - Hong Kong routing every Thursday and Saturday, using Cathay Pacific’s newest and biggest freighter, the Boeing 747-8F. The service will meet growing demand to move a wide range of commodities from the Pacific Northwest and the United States to various parts of Asia, providing shippers with greater choice and flexibility when connecting to Cathay Pacific’s international cargo network through the Hong Kong hub.

The Boeing 747-8F aircraft offers more cargo space to carry the anticipated high volumes of semi-finished footwear and apparel, electronics, and perishables from Portland and its catchment areainto Asia. Portland is also one of the fast growing hubs for e-Commerce related shipments for the Pacific Northwest region.

Cathay Pacific was the first Asia Pacific airline to take delivery of the Boeing 747-8F in 2011 and currently has 13of this aircraft type in its cargo fleet. The Boeing 747-8F employs innovative technologies to bring about significant efficiency improvements to the airline’s ultra-long-haul freighter services, particularly on North American routes, and at the same time reduce the environmental impact of its operations.

The state-of-the-art Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport offers a broad spectrum of logistical solutions for the airfreight industry. Combining advanced technology with streamlined work flows to set new service benchmarks for the industry, customers benefit from extended cut-off times, last-minute cargo acceptance and reduced connection times for transhipments.

Cathay Pacific Director Cargo Simon Large said: “The Americas is a very important market for Cathay Pacific and we are delighted to add Portland to our expanding freighter network.We are committed to providing the best cargo services connecting Asia to this important manufacturing region, and at the same time boosting Hong Kong’s standing as one of the world’s key international airfreight hubs.”