Cathay Pacifics’ weekly freighter service through Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport has taken flight since the service started in November 2016, due to strong support from the exporter community in the region.
Wellcamp Airport general manager Sara Hales said the service started as a result of interest shown by Cathay Pacific in the airport and its close proximity to the large agricultural export region.
“The Cathay freighter service is the only scheduled wide body freighter service that flies into and out of SE Qld,” Ms Hales said.
“The freight only aircraft used for the service travels directly from Wellcamp to Hong Kong, and from there Cathay Pacific connect to over 180 airports worldwide providing myriad exporting opportunities for our regions primary producers,” she said.
She said while many agricultural products are exported through the airport using the service, large machinery and aviation equipment are among the other commodities being sent overseas.
“The freighter service allows for exporters to move large volumes of cargo on one flight, and Cathay Pacific can cater to particular requirements such as outsized cargo and cargo that requires large volumes of dry ice.”
Ms Hales said local exporters local to Toowoomba and surrounds has been very supportive of the airport and the Cathay Pacific service.
“Many local businesses are sending regular shipments through the service, while some others are using it to send large one off shipments for the sake of expediency.
“At present, the flight leaves fully loaded from Wellcamp each week, though the volumes do fluctuate with seasonal commodities, for instance, we’re heading into the mango season and may have as much as 25,000kgs of mangoes on each flight.”
Andrew Waddell of Stahmann Farms, a tree nut processing business which has sold their product to major retailers throughout Australia for more than 30 years sent a a small parcel using the service on the initial flight out of Wellcamp.
“We now use the service every six to eight weeks,” Mr Waddell said.
“We generally send a tonne or two of retail ready packs of Australian nuts to Hong Kong which are transfreighted to China to backfill orders at our warehouse there, and sold via our e-commerce online platform,” he said.
“As a company we’re committed to using the freight service as often as we can to assist in developing business infrastructure in Toowoomba, where we’re situated,” he said.
“We’ve found the service to be very reliable, cost effective, and convenient.
“It now takes us three hours to prepare a consignment for delivery through Wellcamp using the service as opposed to the two days required to send out from Sydney or Brisbane.”
Ms Hales said the service also supports import cargo which may be required for major projects in the region.
“The fact that a freighter calls into SE Qld enhances the capabilities to manage the supply chain for large projects.”
Ms Hales said while currently available as a weekly service, Cathay Pacific are looking at the routing and frequency of it to work out if the service can be offered with increased regularity.
“We’ve have also had interest from other airlines operating freighter services on different routes looking to call into Wellcamp.”
She said Wellcamp and Cathay Pacific appreciate the ongoing support provided by the local business community for the freighter service.
“With current investments in export related projects in the area we see a bright future for the freight related activities at Wellcamp.”
