"Cathay cargo venture set to take off" from South China Morning Post

"An air-cargo venture expected to increase Cathay Pacific Airway's presence on the mainland could take off as early as next month, chairman Christopher Pratt said yesterday."


"The airline said the joint venture would help it gain cargo traffic in the Yangtze River Delta, where cargo throughput has grown neck and neck with that in the pearl River Delta.

Kelvin Lau Wai-kin, transport analyst of Daiwa Capital Market, said the deal may be more beneficial to Air China than Cathay.

"Obviously Cathay's major cargo business would still come from Hong Kong. It does not rely solely on the venture for its mainland cargo business as it has its own freighter routes there," Lau said. "Air China, on the other hand, could learn a lot from Cathay about the management and operation of the trade as few existing mainland airlines can handle the competition from experienced market players like UPS." "