Story in brief

• Cathay Cargo has been awarded Cargo Operator of the Year in Air Transport World’s Airline Industry Achievement Awards
• This marks Cathay Cargo’s fourth Cargo Operator of the Year title since 2023, following wins in 2023, 2025, 2026 and now 2027.
• The win reflects the Cathay Cargo team’s customer focus and determination to achieve vision of becoming the world’s best air cargo carrier through innovation and service excellence

Story in full

Cathay Cargo has been awarded Cargo Operator of the Year at the Air Transport World (ATW)’s 2027 Airline Industry Achievement Awards, marking the fourth time since 2023 that Cathay Cargo has won this accolade. The recognition highlights Cathay Cargo’s continued progress towards its vision of becoming the world’s best air cargo carrier through customer-centric innovation, operational excellence and sustainable growth.

Cathay Director Cargo Dominic Perret said: “Being named Cargo Operator of the Year for the fourth time since 2023 is a meaningful recognition of the commitment, expertise and can-do spirit across Cathay Cargo. I would like to thank every member of our team for bringing our ‘We Know How’ brand promise to life every day, and our customers and partners for their continued trust and support.”

While navigating an agile path through some global industry challenges, Cathay Cargo’s teams continued to introduce more choice, flexibility, quality and efficiency for customers through digital innovation, enhanced service excellence and sustainability.

Enhanced and refined customer solutions

In the award entry period, Cathay Cargo continued to evolve its customer solutions, strengthening a portfolio that offers specialist services that customers appreciate. Cathay Dangerous Goods, which drew on its work around both the detection and safe carriage of lithium-ion batteries, were revamped, while Cathay Live Animal was spectacularly demonstrated with a charter of 60 show-jumping horses from Liège for the Hong Kong International Horse Show.

Special shipments and cultural exchanges

Other notable shipments included the safe transfer of warriors from the famous Terracotta Army from Xian to Perth in Australia and ancient Egyptian artefacts from Shanghai to Hong Kong for an exhibition that showed that air cargo has a role in cultural exchanges as well as global trade and the supply chain.

Digital convenience at customers’ fingertips

The Cathay Cargo Strategy is digitalisation-led, to give customers more control. cathaycargo.com has developed into a one-stop shop, enabling customers to book online at their convenience. More than 80 per cent of Cathay Cargo’s bookings are now made online or via API links to its inventory via third-party or customer systems. Cathay Cargo’s Manage Booking function, introduced early in 2026 enables forwarders to modify, preview and reconfirm shipments.

Digital innovation across operations

In operations, Cathay Cargo rolled out comms tool Cargo Connect, a system-linked app for ramp teams, across the network. That increases operational efficiency, while another innovation, Heavy Pro, shortens the approval time for out-of-gauge shipments for customers and sends tie-down plans directly to the ramp teams’ devices via Cargo Connect. Cathay Cargo had ONE Record production use cases in place for IATA’s deadline at the start of 2026, and became the first carrier to offer customs clearance updates, adding more visibility for customers.

Strengthening intermodal connectivity with the Greater Bay Area

Cathay Cargo continued to expand access to Greater Bay Area markets through integrated modes, by air land sea, providing customers with greater flexibility and quick access to one of the world's most dynamic manufacturing and consumer regions. A focus on perishable imports saw the adoption of the Air-Land Fresh Lane, enabling expedited shipments with a Hong Kong Customs transhipment certificate under one air waybill to Zhuhai and other GBA cities. The scheme now extends to Macao.

Sustainability initiatives and SAF leadership

Cathay Cargo’s commitment to decarbonisation continued with more cargo customer signatories to the Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme and the introduction of the Self-Service SAF Portal, enabling businesses of all sizes to make ad hoc purchases.

“As the world’s number one cargo operator at the world’s number one cargo airport, we remain committed to continuing to grow our business and reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as a world-leading international aviation hub,” added Perret. “We are continuing to invest in our fleet, digital capabilities and network to create more choice, control and connectivity for our customers in the years to come.”