Cathay ramps up the move to its own cargo terminal in Hong Kong.

Cathay Pacific Airways began the second stage in the operation of its own cargo terminal at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG).

In the first stage, which began shortly after the official opening in late February, the terminal only handled valuable cargo, civil mail, and some transfer shipments, and only for Cathay and subsidiary carrier Dragonair. Stage two, which is now underway, has begun with the terminal processing import cargo from Cathay and Dragonair inbound passenger flights, and will ultimately see the terminal handling all transshipments, import cargo, and empty ULD release for both carriers.

Once Cathay is satisfied with stage two, it will move to stage three, likely around the beginning of the fourth quarter, and the terminal will ramp up to handle all of Cathay/Dragonair’s cargo, and will begin to look for other customers.

While none of this will affect the overall volume of cargo at HKG (which was up slightly over the first half of 2012), it will have a huge impact on Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl). Cathay has long been Hactl’s biggest customer, accounting for a significant portion of Hactl’s business, and with Cathay now beginning to handle its own import cargo, Hactl’s June handle was down 7% y-o-y.