A senior airline industry representative in Hong Kong has issued a warning to Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl), saying it will not be an automatic choice by airlines for cargo handling at the new airport.
Since the mid-1970s Hactl has held a monopoly on cargo processing in Hong Kong, but at Chek Lap Kok it will be forced to compete with another operator - the largely Singapore-owned Asia Airfreight Terminals (AAT).
Despite Hactl's loss of the monopoly, it had been thought generally that it would continue to be by far the leading force in air cargo handling - with AAT widely expected to be a small-scale rival.
Gilbert Chow, the deputy chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR), said yesterday that despite Hactl's dominance of cargo processing in Hong Kong, it should not be complacent about its future share of business.
'They are doing what we see as a reasonably good job in processing cargo, but competition and more choices will be beneficial to the airlines and the consumers at large,' he said.
The BAR and Hactl have held talks, dealing mainly with operational issues faced at the air cargo terminal at the new airport.
AAT also is understood to have talked to airlines about arrangements at Chek Lap Kok.