• Cathay Cargo powers a post-pandemic comeback with AI-driven pricing, new Airbus A350F freighters, and strategic integration across the Greater Bay Area to boost resilience and reach
• Digitalisation and specialist cargo solutions—from pharmaceuticals to e-commerce—set the airline apart, with ONE Record adoption and AI tools streamlining operations and customer engagement
• Hong Kong remains the cornerstone, supported by the Three-Runway System and intermodal links, cementing Cathay Cargo’s role as a global logistics leader driven by people, innovation, and agility

Global trade is under pressure. Airfreight demand is recovering unevenly. Digitalisation is accelerating, but with growing gaps between leaders and laggards. Against this backdrop, Cathay Cargo is doing more than returning to the skies after Covid—it’s building a stronger and more adaptive business, able to win out through the inevitable business cycles that are a characteristic of the industry. From AI-led pricing and regional connectivity in the Greater Bay Area to specialist cargo solution verticals and a major fleet upgrade, the airline is reshaping how it competes in the post-pandemic cargo market.

“We define success through the eyes of our customer,” says Tom Owen, Director Cargo at Cathay Cargo. “And that is around our customers’ willingness to work with us and to ship cargo on us. We measure our customers’ response regularly with the Net Promoter Score.”

But success, Owen notes, doesn’t stop at the customer interface. “On the flip side, it’s the people of Cathay Cargo and all who support us  that make a difference,” he says. “We benchmark closely our engagement scores and the happiness of our people. If you have a collective group of motivated, efficient and engaged employees working for Cathay Cargo, then our customers are more likely to want to work with us. And we are very proud of the fact that we do! “

Strength and strategy

Cathay Cargo’s post-pandemic trajectory is underpinned by its Hong Kong base and its expansive reach. “We now fly to over 100 destinations to which carry cargo, both in our 20 747 freighters and in the 160 extensive passenger aircraft bellies of Cathay Group, and that’s a very significant strength, and we’ll continue to build on that,” Owen says. That reach will be bolstered further by the acquisition of six new Airbus A350F freighters, part of a potential order of up to 26 of these state-of-the-art freighter aircraft.

Owen ties this investment directly to long-term trends in regional and global trade. “We are committed to the continued growth of the Hong Kong international aviation and logistics hub, with more than HK$100 billion investments by our airline group, coinciding with the commissioning of the [HKIA] Three-Runway System,” he says. The new runway and the wider Greater Bay Area strategy enable Cathay Cargo to grow capacity and deepen intermodal integration between air, land, and sea.

In the face of rerouted trade flows, particularly between the Chinese Mainland, Southeast Asia, and the USA, Cathay Cargo has leaned into its flexibility. “We’ve recently seen  less cargo coming out of the Chinese Mainland to the USA. Conversely, we’ve seen more cargo coming out of Southeast Asia,” says Owen. “There’s been a slowdown in air cargo flows across the Pacific from China. Whether that extends to the long term largely depends… on the future negotiations between the two big trading partners. But we believe e-commerce in particular will see lower volumes by air into the USA ahead, as the e commerce platforms adapt their business models”.

Yet within Asia, the picture looks more consistent. “There’s definitely intra-Asian trade happening. We’ve been seeing very interesting growth in trade flows between Southeast and Northeast Asia, particularly around various industrial projects that are starting up,” he says. “That will lead to the need for air cargo. And that’s not just e-commerce but a wide range of industrial, project based and high tech products. Newly built manufacturing plants in SE Asia may also in future see more goods flowing into the USA, so we are always on the lookout for where the business is, and can adjust our capacity accordingly. “

Specialist solutions

Digital progress is one of three core priorities for Cathay Cargo, alongside its specialist verticals and regional integration. “We started to use AI, for instance, around revenue management,” Owen says. “We’ve also started to use AI iutilising large language models to help understand how we can dissect lots of information and give it to our customers and to our staff.”

Cathay Cargo has also become the leading  airline to implement IATA’s ONE Record protocols into daily operations. “One of the key challenges in moving from pilot to production was assisting the forwarder’s IT team in identifying the scope of data exchange,” the airline explains. “GLS’s, Cathay Cargo’s internal technology company, with its expert knowledge was invaluable… Their data converter service ensured a seamless data exchange between ONE Record and traditional channels.”

For Owen, digitalisation isn’t a threat to the human core of cargo. “The industry thrives on people interactions. That is why we all love it so! But AI can help make people’s work lives easier… I see AI freeing up the people of cargo from repetitive data entry type jobs, … to actually provide more time to understand customers’ needs, looking for new opportunities, and ensuring safe and efficient operations.”

The strategy also leans heavily on product differentiation. “We have a strategy which we’ve built upon for a number of years now to truly differentiate our service and solution capability  from others. This is core to our Brand positioning where we boldly state that “We Know How”,

One of the key pillars we have is investing in is our nine solution verticals,” Owen says. These include solutions from pharmaceuticals and courier to live animals and e-commerce. All these solutions have been developed and improved and then released to the market with direct customer input.

Hong Kong’s standing

Being based in the world’s top-ranked air cargo airport is no small asset. “Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has once again been named number one in the world for air cargo,” Cathay Cargo notes. “We contribute approximately 30 percent of HKIA’s total cargo throughput.”

The Three-Runway System, intermodal investments, and new digital tools reinforce Hong Kong’s importance as a logistics hub, particularly within the Greater Bay Area (GBA). “The 3RS complements our intermodal transshipment services in the GBA, facilitating efficient connections between air, land, and sea,” Cathay Cargo states.

Owen sees Hong Kong as a strategic centre of influence. It was one of the reasons they were the host airline for the recent TIACA executive Summit in Hong  Kong  “This event [TIACA Executive Summit] provides a valuable platform to showcase Hong Kong’s pivotal role in the global supply chain and Cathay Cargo’s extensive network that links Asia with the rest of the world,” he says.

With a cautiously optimistic eye on the future, Cathay Cargo is also setting expectations for the broader industry. “We are eager to see this year’s [TIACA] event generate meaningful discussions and actionable outcomes across key industry [themes],” the airline says, citing digitalisation, sustainability, and regulatory reform as its core interests.

The message from Owen is clear: agility, innovation, and trained people are Cathay Cargo’s edge. “It’s a competitive environment,” he says. “We differentiate ourselves primarily around the quality of the training we have in our people, the infrastructure that we have… and also the connectivity and reach.”

That trio—people, platform, and positioning—may be Cathay Cargo’s most durable strategic advantage in its journey to become  the Best Air Cargo Carrier in the world.

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