Cathay Cargo held its annual Cargo Business Update in April in Hong Kong to reaffirm to its top customers its commitment to become ‘the most customer-centric air cargo service provider’.

Director Commercial and Cargo Ronald Lam recognised customers’ support through a record-breaking year for both the air cargo industry and Cathay Pacific. He noted that cargo helped turn around two years of consecutive financial losses for the airline: ‘Last year’s success was very important. We showed that we’re coming back, and cargo made a huge contribution to that.’

Ronald added: ‘It was a record year for our business in terms of tonnage and revenue. I would like to thank all of you for working with us and being our top customers. Your support over the years means a lot to us.’

Nelson Chin, GM Cargo Commercial, and Tom Hoang, Regional Director, Cargo Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes highlighted reasons to be optimistic despite a comparative fall in volumes and revenue in the first quarter of the year.

Speaking to the guests, Nelson pointed to a sense of an upturn, backed up by long-term indicators from the International Monetary Fund that point to four per cent growth in global trade in 2019, and a sudden jump in the PMI (Purchase Managers’ Index) along with consistent growth in e-commerce.

He also outlined Cathay Cargo’s long-term commitment to becoming the most customer-centric air cargo service provider, which will be based around three differentiators of ‘expertise’, ‘quality’ and ‘innovation’.

Nelson explained: ‘Expertise will be a focus on those time-, temperature- and handling-sensitive shipments, and will include new technology such as next-generation track and trace. Quality will be about delivering operational excellence, ensuring that we stay ahead of the game and the quality of the shipment is the same across the entire journey, and we will use data to inform and improve how we serve our customers. Innovation will include using new technology not just in terms of track and trace, as well as digitisation – from making an intuitive booking process right through to our efforts to eliminate paperwork from the industry.’

The event was followed by a weekend at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.