Hactl extends SuperLink China Direct services to provide added convenience to customers

28th June 2001
Hong Kong

Following the success of the SuperLink China Direct sealed truck service between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) today announced a series of additions to its portfolio of intermodal services aimed at assisting its customers to provide seamless transportation links between Hong Kong and manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta.

After receiving consent from mainland Customs, Hactl through its subsidiary Hong Kong Air Cargo Industry Services Limited (Hacis) is launching a daily southbound sealed truck service from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport to Hactl's SuperTerminal 1 to complement its existing northbound service.

Under the southbound service, cargo can be directly delivered to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport where mainland clearance takes place prior to transportation by sealed truck to Hactl. Upon arrival at SuperTerminal 1 shipments can either be held accepted by Hactl and loaded on the appropriate flight or Hactl can, upon request, arrange delivery to agents warehouses for further processing. A shipment labelling service is also available upon request. The truck is scheduled to depart from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport at 4 p.m., and arrive at SuperTerminal 1 at 8 p.m. every day from Monday to Friday.

At the same time the popular northbound service is being enhanced by increasing the frequency to daily from Monday to Friday and the introduction of a house level customs clearance option at Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport, enabling this service to be extended to agents. With this new service, agents can consign consolidated shipments to Guangzhou using standard airway bill documentation. Upon arrival at Guangzhou, Hacis can act on behalf of the agents to notify individual consignees for cargo collection at the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport.

"The introduction of the new southbound service and the extension of the northbound service mark a further step in our ongoing effort to strengthen Hong Kong's position as a regional air cargo hub by reducing transportation lead times and streamlining the process of shipping goods between Hong Kong and its hinterland," said Mark Ashall, Director, Marketing and Customer Service of Hactl. "We believe that these services will enable Hactl's customers to provide manufacturers and end users with a fast and efficient alternative method of moving both export and import shipments to and from Hong Kong respectively.".

In addition, a freight collect option is being introduced for imported goods connecting with the northbound service. Under this option, Hacis will collect freight charges directly from consignee upon goods collection at Guangzhou. This is consistent with many current contractual arrangements between foreign shippers and consignees in the mainland whereby the former are responsible for the costs associated with shipment to Hong Kong while the consignees were responsible for the cost of transportation between Hong Kong and the final destination.

Mr Ashall pointed out that the above SuperLink China Direct service extension would complement Hactl's existing intermodal initiatives including the SuperLink Airport Direct and the Marine Cargo Terminal.

Under the former Hactl provides in terminal handling services, including customs clearance of individual consignments and cargo sorting, and delivery either to the freight forwarders warehouses or direct to their consignees in Hong Kong on their behalf. Following its commencement of operations in March 2001, the Marine Cargo Terminal - a joint venture between Hacis and Chu Kong Shipping - has led to the establishment of direct barge services between the airport and 16 ports in the Pearl River Delta.