There is good reason to believe China's biggest traders of high-value goods will be paying less to ship their luxury items overseas through Hong Kong International Airport by the turn of the decade.
With the Airport Authority close to granting Cathay Pacific Airways a self-handling facility, the days of a dominant operator appear over and that could have a significant positive impact on the cargo owners' pocketbooks and the flow of goods moving through the airport.
For the record, Hongkong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl) deserves more than the lion's share of credit for making Chek Lap Kok the world's biggest handler of international air cargo for the past decade.
Not only have Hactl's foresight and trade initiatives for the past five years increased the margin by which the airport is No1, it has done so despite the best efforts to dethrone Hong Kong by ambitious rival operators across the border, where 70 per cent of the cargo is made or destined.
Nevertheless, if Cathay has its wish, the annual freight-handling capacity at the airport could expand by at least 2.1 million tonnes in the next three years - or about 60 per cent of last year's 3.4 million tonne throughput.
Asia Airfreight Terminals, the No2 operator, has pencilled in December 28 as the provisional launch date for its Phase II unveiling, adding 910,000 tonnes of annual capacity to the market. The second phase of DHL's Central Asia hub, adding another 160,000 tonnes a year of handling potential to the high end of the market, is due on line next year in the fourth quarter.