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Cathay Pacific Airways adds Pittsburgh to its Americas freight network
September 25th 2020
Cathay Pacific Airways this week commenced flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Pittsburgh via Hong Kong operated by a reconfigured 777-300ER. Read More » The inaugural flight, CX8800, touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport on Monday. The route is scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays for the next 12 weeks, adding Pittsburgh to the airline’s 19 cargo destinations in the Americas.
Cathay Pacific vice president cargo for the Americas, Fred Ruggiero, said the airline was excited to link Hong Kong with Pittsburgh in partnership with the airport and Unique Logistics.
"The city is ideally placed between the eastern seaboard and the Mid-west, home to more than 50% of the population of the U.S.,” Ruggiero said.
“Cargo remains a bright spot for the airline in this challenging time. This temporary expansion underscores Cathay Pacific’s commitment to our freight forwarder partners, who requested an expanded cargo service to meet heightened demand.”
The airline recently converted two 777-300ERs for cargo operations by removing their economy and premium economy seats, a configuration that adds about 12 tonnes of cargo capacity to its air freight operations. The pair joins Cathay Pacific's existing ultra-long-haul cargo fleet of 14 747-8F and six 747-400ERF.
Pittsburgh International Airport CEO, Christina Cassotis, said the arrival of Cathay Pacific in the city was another step in building the airport into a global logistics centre."Our speed, efficiency and ideal location offer a unique benefit for carriers and freight forwarders looking to serve the North America market,” Cassotis said.
Cathay's August traffic figures showed the airline group carried 102,122 tonnes of cargo and mail in the month, down 36.7% from a year earlier. Capacity collapsed by 43.5% in August, in large part due to the suspension of much of the passenger network. The airline flew 436 pairs of cargo-only passenger flights in August.
