Outbound airfreight are screened and palletised in Dongguan, then transported by ship to a secured pier at the airport for export, offering a full upstream sea-air intermodal link between the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and Hong Kong.
The HKIA Logistics Park in Dongguan was developed by the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to screen, build up and accept shipments destined for the airport, where pallets and ULDs can be loaded straight to a waiting aircraft.
Cissy Chan, Executive Director, Commercial at AAHK, says, “The HKIA Logistics Park with sea-air intermodal connectivity to HKIA aims to reinforce HKIA’s role as the international air cargo hub in the GBA. The initiative brings our extensive air network, enormous handling capacity and efficient services to the doorstep of the air cargo customers in the GBA, contributing to the supply chain and economic development of the region.”
Cathay Pacific Services Limited (CPSL) is the first cargo terminal operator to sign up to the pilot scheme and has established its own upstream bonded facility – Cathay Pacific Terminal Dongguan – located at the Bestar Logistics Centre in Dongguan.
Mark Watts, Chief Operating Officer of CPSL, says, “By extending our air cargo handling services to Dongguan, we are able to offer more choice and more value-added services for our customers, as part of our vision to become the world’s most customer-centric air cargo terminal operator.”
The scheme offers cost savings, improved efficiency and reliability, and improved cut-off times for shipments from the GBA.
All parties will continue extending operations to include imports from Hong Kong to the GBA via the HKIA Logistics Park.
The scheme is open to Hong Kong freight forwarders that are regulated agents (RA) and they will need to obtain acceptance from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department to their application of Supplementary Pages to Regulated Agent Security Programme, which extend the RAs’ remit to upstream operations.
Tom Owen, Director of Cargo at Cathay Pacific, says, “Our customers can benefit from competitive rates on screening, palletisation and terminal charges. The project is a tremendous opportunity to further develop an important regional market and demonstrate the strength of Hong Kong as the leading air cargo logistics hub by increasing Cathay Pacific Cargo’s attractiveness to our customers.”