When international passenger flights started to decline out of Brisbane Airport due to COVID-19 restrictions, SunPork Fresh Foods decided it was time to look at alternative air freight services into its Asian market.
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The company quickly monitored the Cathay Pacific freighter into Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport and immediately jumped on board its Tuesday freight run.
According to executive general manager of SunPork Fresh Foods Rhys Collins, it had become difficult to send freight from Brisbane Airport due to the lack of passenger flights, which also carried chilled freight in the cargo hull.
"Sending our freight from our Kingaroy plant to Wellcamp is working very well for the Tuesday afternoon run, but it doesn't work for the Friday Singapore Airlines, or the additional Sunday Cathay Pacific runs, as our customers want their product before the weekend," Mr Collins said.
"If there were more flights earlier in the week, we would be onboard as our chilled bodies fill half of Tuesday's capacity."
The pork is exported as chilled bodies packed into air pellets which holds up to five tonne of produce.
Mr Collins said they fly SunPork produce out five days a week into Asia using eight flights departing Sydney, Brisbane and now Toowoomba Wellcamp.
"The majority of these planes planes were passenger flights which have been converted to freight," he said.
SunPork raises 900,000 piglets annually and now exports to seven countries.
It has 37 farms in three Australia states and six in New Zealand, three feedmills, two abattoirs , and two value-adding factories.
