Cargolux launches HKG-MEX route, as JV with HNCA may be on pause

This week, Luxembourg-based Cargolux added another trans-Pacific flight to its portfolio, connecting Hong Kong (HKG) to Mexico City (MEX) on a twice-weekly route that will stop once per week in Guadalajara (GDL). The inaugural flight departed from HKG on Dec. 10 carrying 120 tonnes of cargo on one of its 747 freighters.

Kevin Shek, vice president for the Cargolux’s Asia-Pacific region, said the additional route will “allow faster and more efficient trade in goods,” like apparel, mobile phones and electronics, between the two hubs.

Last year, the carrier also signed an agreement to form a long-anticipated joint venture (JV), called Henan Cargo Airlines, with China-based Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment Co. – an investment arm of the government of China’s Henan province, which owns a 35 percent stake in Cargolux – with the intent to focus on trans-Pacific routes.

The future of that JV is now less certain. According to a Loadstar article from earlier this week, Cargolux CEO Richard Forson said the launch of the partnership has been put on the back burner for a while longer, as a result of tense trade relations between the U.S. and China.