Cathay Cargo has received its ‘Cargo Airline of the Year’ award at the 49th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards ceremony hosted by Air Transport World (ATW).

Announced in February, the award was presented at the event on 2 June – a gala dinner held at Istanbul’s Grand Cevahir Hotel ahead of the IATA Annual General Meeting.

There to accept the award from Chen Chuanren, SE Asian and China Editor for the ATW group of companies were Cathay Pacific Group Chair Patrick Healy and General Manager Cargo Service Delivery Frosti Lau.

‘This award is a wonderful moment in what is a very exciting year for us, including the relaunch of our Cathay Cargo brand later this month and our first advertising campaign in many years,’ says Lau.

Cathay Cargo was recognised for continuing to grow, innovate and adapt through some of the most challenging pandemic restrictions in the world. It revamped its Priority solution and launched its refreshed Cathay Pharma solution to meet customer demand; launched its digital booking platform Click & Ship; extended its Fly Greener carbon-offsetting initiative to cargo shipments; and opened its dedicated Pharma Handling Centre at the Cathay Cargo Terminal at its Hong Kong hub.

Additionally, Cathay Cargo was the largest cargo carrier at Hong Kong International Airport in 2022, which topped the ACI rankings as busiest air cargo hub by tonnage.

Reflecting on the win, Director Cargo Tom Owen said: ‘It highlights the progressiveness of our cargo colleagues around the world in responding to the needs of our customers and their can-do spirit in delivering operational excellence despite the many challenges we faced last year.

‘We have kept up the momentum by introducing Cathay Mail, which brings greater shipment visibility to our postal customers, and by inaugurating commercial multi-modal shipments from our extended home base of the Greater Bay Area, accepting shipments by sea from the Hong Kong International Airport Logistics Park in Dongguan.

‘I am delighted that our efforts have been recognised in this way. It is a testament to the hard work of the whole team, including pilots, planning and engineers, who have all come together to help us realise our vision of becoming the world’s most customer-centric air-cargo service brand.’

The first of many?

Cathay Cargo has been shortlisted in the AFLAS (Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain) Awards. Cathay Cargo has received two nominations, ‘Best Air Cargo Carrier – Asia’ and ‘Best Green Air Cargo Carrier’, while the Cathay Cargo Terminal has been shortlisted for ‘Best Air Cargo Terminal Operator – Asia’.

If you are so minded, we would appreciate your vote for Cathay in items #19, #27 and #48. Voting closes on 14 July.