Cathay Pacific to add freighter flights to Schiphol, Paris CDG and Heathrow

By Damian Brett

Cathay Pacific is continuing to restore its freighter network with the addition of flights to Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris CDG, London Heathrow, Dubai, Riyadh and Phnom Penh.

Starting June 17, the carrier will fly from its home hub Hong Kong to Heathrow once a week with a B747 freighter. Flights to Paris will start on June 1 utilising B747F aircraft flying two/three times per week.

And flights to Schiphol will launch on June 3 operating three/four times per week.

The carrier is also increasing its flights to Frankfurt from the current three per week to four starting the week commencing June 13.

Elsewhere, Cathay Pacific said it would restart freighter flights to the UAE (DWC seven times per week), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh once per week) and Cambodia (Phnom Penh once per week).

The carrier is also planning to expand its freighter operations to the US in June, although exact details are hard to confirm.

The move comes following Hong Kong’s decision to ease Covid crew restrictions on May 1.

The new rules mean that vaccinated cargo crew will no longer be required to quarantine on returning flights but will be subject to a 14 day medical surveillance period, regular testing and will need to stay in a closed-loop system for any overnight stays.

At the start of the year, the carrier grounded its entire long-haul cargo network due to strict quarantine restrictions, but it has been gradually adding capacity back in, mainly concentrating on intra-Asia flights and the Transpacific.

Frankfurt was first added back into the carrier’s freighter network in April – the first time the carrier had flown freighters to Europe since December.