International air freight companies aim to break through with fast lines and accelerate the upgrade of freight services
On the 15th, Cathay Pacific Cargo became the first airline to enhance the efficiency of cargo transportation on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge by leveraging the recently launched "Air-Land Fresh Products Express Line" (Fresh Express Line).
This initiative was jointly launched by the governments of Guangdong and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, aiming to promote efficient cross-border transportation of perishable goods between the two places.
This plan enables fruits and live seafood or chilled seafood arriving at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to be seamlessly transported to the Greater Bay Area (GBA) via temperature-controlled trucks equipped with GPS tracking and certified electronic locks, all on a single air waybill.
Under the "Live Express" scheme, live aquatic products and fruit goods will be issued a "Transshipment Confirmation" by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Customs, simplifying the process of the "Inspection, Quarantine and Supervision and Administration Measures for Inbound Fruits/Aquatic Animals" of the General Administration of Customs of China, and authorizing the relevant live goods to be transshipped through Hong Kong and imported to the Chinese mainland. In addition, the plan has received support from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to exempt the requirement of registering food importers.
A new temperature-controlled inspection facility at the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is conducting spot checks to ensure that the cold chain remains intact throughout the entire journey.
The first trial operation under the new system was carried out in mid-August, including a batch of live lobsters from Melbourne.
Shortly after, a second batch of live elephant clams (a type of clam) was transported from Los Angeles. Cathay Pacific Cargo said that both companies moved from aircraft to cross-border trucks without delay, verifying the reliability of the system.
James Evans, general Manager of Cathay Pacific Cargo Commercial, said: "Fresh Lane is good news for shippers who want to transport high-quality perishable products to the center of the Greater Bay Area."
The entire Greater Bay Area is our local market. In addition to its export strength, we believe that the Greater Bay Area and its 86 million residents also demonstrate astonishing consumption capacity. We can see that through this new process, high-quality perishable foods will find an exciting new market.
Over the past few years, with the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the connectivity between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area has been enhanced.
One of the major developments is the launch of multimodal transport cargo handling services between Hong Kong International Airport and Dongguan Logistics Park.
This service enables goods to be transferred between Hong Kong International Airport and Dongguan by barge, accelerating the transportation time.