Premium loin cuts from Oakey Beef Exports and mangoes from north Queensland were being unloaded in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning as part of another history-making flight from Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport.
The first of Cathay Pacific Airways’ weekly freighter flights used the same airport that only last month saw the first international commercial passenger flight take off, taking a 206-strong trade delegation from Toowoomba to Shanghai.
CX022 is the only scheduled cargo service into southern Queensland. Other services “go under passengers” and so have the potential of being rescheduled.
Prior to the inaugural flight, Food Leaders Australia hosted 28 guests at its inaugural Exporters Club luncheon in Toowoomba, which CEO Ben Lyons said had been very informative for current and potential exporters.
Featuring special guest, Nigel Chynoweth from Cathay Pacific Cargo, Ben said the day was about welcoming Cathay Pacific to the Darling Downs business community.
“This is their journey and they wanted to share it with us.”
Ben said he would like to see the freight flight frequency increased to two a week, describing it as a real possibility.
“There is more stuff to come out of here,” he said. “The dairy processing plant is coming online. The potential is huge.”
The Boeing 747-8F has a cargo capacity of approximately 135 tonnes, carrying 34 pallets on the main deck and 12 on the lower deck.
According to Ben, this week’s load of fresh food from Queensland was sharing the space with Sydney and Melbourne machinery.
“They do a lot of business with racehorses,” he said. “There’s no reason in the world why we might not see racehorses from Toowoomba exported around the world.”
He said that as well as the hub capabilites in Hong Kong that enabled linkages with many Asian destinations, Cathay Pacific had just opened at Portland, Oregon and was growing in India.
“Produce from here could end up at any of those destinations,” he said. “Consistent, programmable freight will attract a competitive rate.”
Arriving in Hong Kong just after midnight on Wednesdays is also an attractive proposition, allowing fresh produce to be delivered to markets and restaurants in China later the same day.
Ben said the cargo terminal in Hong Kong was only three years old and had 1500m of cold storage.
“But the demand is not just for perishables, but for time critical things such as helicopter parts or drill bits.”