Air Hong Kong

AHK Air Hong Kong Limited (stylised as air Hongkong and commonly known as Air Hong Kong; Chinese: 香港華民航空) is an all-cargo airline based in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong, with its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline operates an express freight network to 12 destinations in nine countries, including China, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. It has a fleet of Airbus A300-600F General Freighters, which the airline was the launch customer of this new variant. Its head office is located on the fourth floor of the South Tower of Cathay Pacific City.[1]

Not to be confused with Hong Kong Airlines or Hong Kong Airways.

Air Hong Kong
香港華民航空
IATA ICAO Callsign
LD AHK AIR HONG KONG
FoundedNovember 1986
Commenced operations4 February 1988
HubsHong Kong International Airport
Frequent-flyer programCargo Clan Elite (by Cathay Pacific Cargo)
Fleet size12
Destinations12
Parent companyCathay Pacific
HeadquartersHong Kong
Key people
  • Augustus Tang (Chairman)
  • Liza Ng (COO)
  • Gus Larard (Director of Flight Operations)
Websitewww.airhongkong.com.hk
Air Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese香港華民航空公司
Simplified Chinese香港华民航空公司

Air Hong Kong was founded in November 1986 by three local businessmen and commenced charter services with a Boeing 707-320C freighter on 4 February 1988. In June 1994, Hong Kong's largest carrier, Cathay Pacific acquired 75% holdings of the airline; and acquired the remaining 25% in February 2002. In October, Cathay Pacific entered into a joint venture with DHL Worldwide Express (DHL), that eventually saw DHL take a 40% stake in the cargo airline, while Cathay Pacific retained the other 60% holding.

On 7 July 2017, Cathay Pacific announced that it would be acquiring DHL's stake in the airline.[2]

History
The head office of Air Hong Kong is within the Cathay Pacific City complex
Old Air Hong Kong logo

Air Hong Kong was established in November 1986 by three local businessmen from London's Stansted Airport, which included Roger Walman. Roger teamed up with Tomas Sang from Hong Kong to help fund the business. The airline commenced charter services with a Boeing 707-320C freighter on 4 February 1988, to Bombay (now known as Mumbai), Britain and Kathmandu; and scheduled services began on 18 October 1989. By early 1990, the airline had two Boeing 707-320C and operated a scheduled cargo service to Manchester, with traffic rights to Auckland, Brussels, Fukuoka, Guam, Melbourne, Nagoya, Osaka, Perth, Pusan, Singapore, Sydney, Vienna and Zurich.[3][4] Schedule cargo service to Nagoya was introduced and new traffic rights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City granted by April 1991.[5] In March 1992, Air Hong Kong was granted additional traffic rights to Cairns, Darwin, Dhaka, Dubai, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur and Townsville. By March 1993, the airline operated scheduled cargo services to Brussels, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City, Manchester, Nagoya and Singapore with a fleet of two Boeing 747-100SF and one Boeing 707-320C freighters.[6]

Polaris Aircraft Leasing, a subsidiary of General Electric Capital, entered into agreement in 1993 to suspend lease payments on the airline's three Boeing 747-100SFs in return for an option to buy up to 49 percent of the airline in January 1995. However, Cathay Pacific acquired 75 percent of the airline's shares for HK$200 million in June 1994 and the option was cancelled.[7][8] Facing weak demands and heavy financial losses, the airline was forced to terminate the lease on its Boeing 707-320C and one of its Boeing 747-100SF on November 1994 and January 1995, respectively, with only two Boeing 747-100SFs remaining.[9] By 2000, the airline had a fleet of three Boeing 747-200Fs with scheduled cargo services to Brussels, Dubai, Manchester and Osaka.[10]

The airline's parent, Cathay Pacific, acquired the remaining 25 percent of the airline's shares in February 2002 and became a wholly owned subsidiary. An operational restructure followed on 1 July, where Air Hong Kong ceased services to Brussels, Dubai and Manchester to focus on services in Asia. In October 2002, Cathay Pacific entered into a joint venture agreement with DHL Worldwide Express (DHL) by selling a 30 percent stake in the cargo airline in exchange for funds to purchase medium-size freighters to operate DHL's network in the Asia-Pacific region from Hong Kong. The airline set aside $300 million to purchase five freighters by 2004 and another $100 million towards at least three more freighters by 2010. In March 2003, Cathay Pacific sold another 10 percent stake to DHL and retained 60 percent of the airline.[8][11]

Air Hong Kong was the launch customer for the Airbus A300-600F General Freighter, which is a new variant of the Airbus A300-600F. This new variant has a cargo loading system capable of handling virtually every type of container and pallet, and a side door at the rear of the lower deck capable of handling large items of general freight. The airline took its first delivery of this new aircraft in September 2004, with the eighth and final aircraft delivered on 22 June 2006. The new freighters were powered by two General Electric (GE) CF6-80C2 engines and signed a 14-year Maintenance Cost Per Hour (MCPH) programme with GE on 25 January 2005.[12][13][14]

In November 2007, Air Hong Kong received an Award for Operational Excellence by the aircraft manufacturer Airbus for achieving an overall best performance on aircraft utilisation, operational reliability and average delay time.[15]

Destinations
An Air Hong Kong aircraft landed in Narita International Airport.

Air Hong Kong operates cargo flights to the following destinations as of 7 May 2010:[16][17]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
ChinaBeijingBeijing Capital International Airport
ShanghaiShanghai Pudong International Airport
Hong KongHong KongHong Kong International AirportHub
JapanNagoyaChubu Centrair International Airport
OsakaKansai International Airport
TokyoNarita International Airport
MalaysiaPenangPenang International Airport
PhilippinesCebuMactan-Cebu International Airport
ManilaNinoy Aquino International Airport
SingaporeSingaporeSingapore Changi Airport
South KoreaSeoulIncheon International Airport
TaiwanTaipeiTaoyuan International Airport
ThailandBangkokSuvarnabhumi Airport
VietnamHo Chi Minh CityTan Son Nhat International Airport

Fleet
Air Hong Kong Airbus A300-600F General Freighter (B-LDH)
Air Hong Kong Boeing 747-400F.

The Air Hong Kong fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of October 2019):[18] In 2020, Air Hong Kong transferred a second A330F to its own air operator’s certificate. While the first was a freighter-converted A330-300F, the latest is a production A330-200F.[19] ASL Airlines are currently operating one converted A330-300F for Air Hong Kong, while another aircraft is being converted by EFW in Dresden. It is unknown when the fourth aircraft will be introduced into the network or when the current aircraft (being operated by ASL Airlines) will transfer under Air Hong Kong's AOC. The program is currently behind schedule.

Air Hong Kong fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Notes
Airbus A300-600F 8 — Operated for DHL Aviation
Airbus A300-600RF 1 — Operated for DHL Aviation
Airbus A330-300/P2F 2 __ 1 Operated by ASL Airlines

1 Operated for DHL Aviation

Airbus A330-200/P2F 1 __ Operated for DHL Aviation
Total 12 0

The airline was the launch customer for the Airbus A300-600F General Freighter, which was the new variant of the Airbus A300-600F.[20]

Former Fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Boeing 707-320C Unknown Unknown Unknown
Boeing 727-200F Unknown Unknown Unknown
Boeing 747-100SF 4 1991 1996
Boeing 747-200F 1 1994 1996
Boeing 747-200SF 3 1997 2004
Boeing 747-400BCF 4 2011 2018

References
  1. "Directory: World Airlines." Flight International. 16–22 March 2004. 65. "AIR HONG KONG [LD1 (AHK) 4F South Tower; Cathay Pacific City, 8 Scenic Road, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong (SAR), China"
  2. "Cathay takes full control of freighter Air Hong Kong". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  3. "News Scan". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 26 March 1988. p. 7. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  4. "World Airline Directory 1990". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 14–20 March 1990. p. 56. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  5. "World Airline Directory 1991". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 27 March – 2 April 1991. p. 54. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  6. "World Airline Directory 1993". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 24–30 March 1993. p. 58. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  7. "Cathay plans Air Hong Kong take-over". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 30 March – 5 April 1994. p. 6. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  8. "Air Hong Kong". Air Hong Kong. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  9. "Weak demand forces Air Hong Kong to cut fleet". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 11–17 January 1995. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  10. "World Airline Directory 2000". Flight International. Reed Business Information. 4–10 April 2000. p. 60. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  11. Fullbrook, David (15–21 October 2002). "Cathay and DHL seal cargo tie-up". Flight International. Reed Business Information. p. 11. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  12. "Air Hong Kong takes delivery of its first A300-600GF aircraft" (Press release). Air Hong Kong. 13 September 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  13. "Final A300-600GF delivered to Air Hong Kong" (Press release). Air Hong Kong. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  14. "AHK Air Hong Kong Signs 14-Year MCPHSM Agreement" (Press release). General Electric. 25 January 2005. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  15. "Air Hong Kong awarded for operational excellence" (Press release). Air Hong Kong. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  16. "Air Hong Kong offers services via the Hong Kong hub to major cities in Asia". Air Hong Kong. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  17. "Air Hong Kong flight schedule". Air Hong Kong. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  18. "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2019): 15.
  19. "Air Hong Kong adds second own-operated A330F | Cargo Facts". cargofacts.com. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  20. "Air Hong Kong – the only all cargo airline of Hong Kong". Air Hong Kong. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.