This is my first leadership message as Director Cargo, and I’m delighted to have joined such an exciting and dynamic business, and to lead a dedicated, expert and experienced team. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve come to appreciate that our We Know How brand message is more than a slogan – it’s our commitment to our business partners and is central to everything we do. I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting some of you, and I look forward to meeting more in the months ahead, especially as we start to think about what the market may hold for us as the peak subsides.

I expect the word “uncertainty” to come up a lot in discussions. For the time being, we’re in a solid peak period. It’s not exceptional, but it is stronger than anticipated. There are good load factors out of Hong Kong, and despite the impact of policy changes on e-commerce flows, our transpacific loads are also encouraging. Where opportunities arise, we’ve been leveraging our strong global network to pivot and add capacity elsewhere. The question is, what will the market look like in February? Regardless of the outcome, we have the team, the network and the solutions in place to deliver for our customers.

Read more: New Director Cargo Dominic Perret outlines first impressions and priorities

We Know How  

One thing that’s struck me since I started in the role is the confidence people have in our ability to deliver challenging shipments and our operational excellence. In turn, these create stories that help define our brand and really resonate. At the China International Import Expo in Shanghai last month, I found myself talking to the media about our notable shipments – I even had the opportunity to talk to Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive John Lee about our recent Terracotta Warrior shipment. People love these stories and they reflect our purpose of delivering cargo that matters to the world. Trade and commerce are what drive our business, but the excitement we generate when we carry priceless Egyptian artefacts or giant pandas to Hong Kong, for example, shows that these shipments really matter. And that’s very much the basis of our new We Know How campaign. It’s about the individual differences that our shipments make to ordinary people – and the world.

Read more: A new era for Cathay Cargo’s We Know How message

Winter seasonals

The opportunities our network provides in a changeable and fluid world are well illustrated by our winter seasonal schedules across both the passenger and freighter businesses. These additional flights enable us to transport fresh fruits from Southern Hemisphere summer harvests across our network. They also allow us to capitalise on changing trade movements, especially with e-commerce. The daily Riyadh passenger flights, which complement the weekly freighter service, are a great example and are performing well.

Read more: Cathay Cargo boosts capacity with its 2025-26 winter schedule

A new look for Europe

We’ve also added Madrid as a stop for our European freighters, as more products from the e-commerce giants find their way to this market. We know that the Asia Pacific to Europe market is extremely competitive, but our additional capacity reflects our confidence that we have an important role to play here and that our reliable, high-quality service will add real value for our business partners. Alongside increased capacity, we also welcome new leadership in Europe in Anand Yedery, who I’m confident will do a fantastic job raising our profile there. He’ll also be working to address the directional imbalance created by this new demand, filling our returning aircraft including with higher-yield shipments that require more care and reinforce our We Know How ethos. Among them are sure to be more memorable stories.

Read more: How Cathay Cargo is developing a competitive edge in Europe