Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminal (Hactl) is optimistic it will be able to cut charges to customers when the Airport Authority extends the company's franchise. Director of marketing and customer service Mark Ashall said 15 per cent cuts in landing and other airport charges by the Airport Authority effective on January 1 had provided welcome relief to airport operators. 'For many - including Hactl - the only material relief will come from an extension of our franchises,' he said. Mr Ashall said the extension would allow Hactl to get a useful life out of its air-cargo facility, SuperTerminal 1. Hactl, along with Asia Airfreight Terminal and Airport Freight Forwarding Centre, has a 20-year franchise. Airport Authority chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king announced last year the franchise extension would be granted. 'At the end of the day, however, we must recognise that Hong Kong will never win on price alone,' Mr Ashall said, adding some locations would always offer cheaper costs. 'That means that while we focus keenly on cost control, we must serve our customers by being more efficient and productive than other hubs, and by providing value-added quality services that are carefully tailored to their needs,' he said. As the air-cargo business continued to grow, Hactl had been working hard to restore its reputation both in Hong Kong and abroad as a standard-setter worldwide for efficiency and reliability, Mr Ashall said. Hactl was already taking steps to enhance services with innovations that were intended to give customers better value for money, he said. The company's main priorities were to improve infrastructure links with the Pearl River Delta, to develop air-traffic rights for cargo to important mainland cities and to use state-of-the-art information technology and the Internet to develop its integrated logistics capabilities. AVIATION