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Cathay Pacific has commenced its once weekly freighter operation out of Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport, establishing a regular cargo link between Queensland’s Darling Downs and Hong Kong.
The first flight, operated by Boeing 747-8F B-LJM, took off from Wellcamp just before 2200 local time, arriving at Hong Kong at about 0400 the next day.
Wellcamp said in a statement the flight’s cargo included meat from Darling Downs based Oakey Beef Exports, as well as turbines, a jet engine, 15 tonnes of milk powder and mangoes.
“We have had an encouraging response from exporters and shippers in the southern half of Queensland as well as northern New South Wales,” said Cathay Pacific general manager for Southwest Pacific Nelson Chin said in a statement.
“We had a good mix of fresh produce to Hong Kong and Asia and oversize cargo to the China, Vietnam, Taiwan and the UK on the first flight.”
Wellcamp has been added as an extra stop on one of Cathay’s two dedicated freighter services to Australia.
Flight schedules show CX22 operating on Tuesdays, departing Sydney at 1220, arriving in Melbourne at 1350. After an hour and 45 minutes on the ground, the 747-8F was then due to take off at 1535 and touch down at Wellcamp at 1645. The final leg is scheduled as a 1815 departure, landing in Hong Kong at 0045 the next day.
The chairman of Wagners, the company that developed Wellcamp Airport, John Wagner, said local exporters would benefit from the new service as the airport sought to become a cargo hub for the region.
“With intense competition for landing slots times within Australia’s major airports and limitations on airport land availability, we have the scope and capacity to support growth in trade between Australia and Asia,” Wagner said.
Wagner also thanked the federal government for its efforts to making regular international cargo flights a reality at Wellcamp.
Menzies Aviation managed the ground handling and cargo terminal operations for the Cathay flight and the company’s senior vice president Alistair Reid said the initiative was a “significant boost for local industry”.
Jakob karpin
says:I think it is a good idea, but places like Canberra should be getting attention too, I would have thought more airlines would want to fly into CBR
Ric
says:I’m not too troubled if Toowoomba>Canberra. Nothing lost
mike9
says:and not a government study in sight, wonder how long it would have taken the Feds to get their act together to achieve the same thing ?
rpaps5
says:Bravo BWW,
Shows what private enterprise with focus, determination and long-term vision can do. Well done Wagner’s!
Lets see how long it takes for the new Sydney airport to even become a reality, as well as relative cost compared to BWW!
It’s the same with the Brisbane extra runway! 8 years??? I know half of that is landfill / dredging / soil settlement etc. The silly thing is that they identified the near future need for this runway when Brisbane was being built. With a little long-term thinking the dredge used for the initial site could have been used to pump a bit more while it was already here with the settlement time occurring by the time the runway was required, plus they now have the added cost of getting the ship to return to Aus again.
Dave Tonks
says:Fingers crossed for expansion at Wellcamp to include passenger flights to Asia – I live half way between Ipswich and Boonah and would be only too happy to drive to Wellcamp for such a flight. Obviously not going to happen overnight, but it will happen…I hope!
BTW, Wellcamp recently hosted a visit by some 45 or so ultralights – sorry I missed out on that one. Reminds me of my visit to Amberley in company with a swarm of little tiny aircraft – it took me almost as long to fly my Drifter down the runway at an altitude of 3 feet (to land at the end for the required taxiway) as it did to fly from Boonah to the Base….fun times.
Vannus
says:Sure beats ‘roading’ it to BNE, then the flight.
Good foresight having a lengthy runway at BWW, to enable a cargo plane’s landing & takeoff capabilities’.
Yes, private enterprise wins yet again!
Just goes to show what CAN be done!
Governments’, both Federal, & especially Qld State, are just ‘plane’ hopeless, in every respect!
Taurean Lea
says:Congratulations must go to Cathay Pacific Cargo for launching regular services to Brisbane West Wellcamp :-D. This will now give the people of the Darling Downs and beyond the great opportunities to recieve shipments by air now and into the future!!!!!!
Charles Falkiner
says:all there is to export from CBR is hot air and useless rhetoric