Cathay base in Dublin?

[Captain Greaser]

Anybody in Cathay confirm thst they are considering a freighter base in Dublin? Makes sense as alot of freight between the Emerald Isle and the far east which is currently shipped to UK and then flown onward.

[akerosid]

They'd certainly be very welcome; currently, DUB only has one long haul cargo route, to SIN, but HKG is ideally placed - as if you didn't know already! - for North Asia and this is a key focus of Irish trade efforts; there are very ambitious plans to develop trade links with China, Japan, Korea and basically, the whole of Asia and a HKG link would be a very good step in that direction.

The only slight downside is that the runway is a bit on the short side - 8,650', so it's going to need a few en route stops before HKG.

[Baywatcher]

One of the requirements for a base are three flights per week, so it would seem unlikely!

[akerosid]

Is this the minimum CX will consider to open it as a destination, or as a crew base? 3x wkly isn't unreasonable, given the level of Irish exports to China, Japan, ROK, Taiwan and ASEAN, although CX would probably rather start with 2 wkly to test the waters.

[Shot Nancy]

I don’t get it. What do the Irish export by the 747 load?
I mean Guinness is brewed all over the world to country specific tastes as it does not travel well. Could it be the old staple of potatoes? Met an Irish chef after waay too many pints of goodness one night and to my question of "what do you cook", she replied:
"roast potatoes, chip potatoes, baked potatoes, and mashed potatoes."
I bought her a pint for the reply!

[akerosid]

Ireland is among the world's largest exporters of pharmaceuticals and
computer software (and there's hardware too) . Yes, there is drink, of
course, but part of Ireland's economic boom has been built on exports. Sure, there's not much in the way of heavy industry, but exports are quite significant and of course, the airline that can tap into this market can also carry it on to other major markets across Asia.

The only concern I have is that with a pretty short runway (8,650'),
you're not going to be able to use the 744F to its full advantage; at
max payload, you're probably only talking about 5-6h out of Dublin.
Don't know if CX has a minimum runway length for 744F ops? (or KA, for
that matter?)

[spannersatcx]

Dublin to Man isn't too far!

[Captain Greaser]

Ireland is the biggest exporter of software in the world.Thats just software.Not to mention intel proccessors and all the computer and pharmacutical stuff.
Were not one of the worlds fastest growing economies on guinness and potatoes!!!!!

[dragon501]

As pointed out before.... 8650' is not gonna do the trick I am afraid.....

How about exporting some of them Irish women... On second thoughts no thanx!!!! (no offense intended ;-))

[akerosid]

It was I who suggested that the 8,650' runway length might be too short, but I'm not a CX person, so it's really intended as a question; does CX have a minimum for 74F operations?

If it's a question of adding 1500' of concrete (which should have been done years ago anyway), that can be done, but if at all possible, what I'd like to know is whether DUB has been considered and if so, was/is the fact that the runway is too short a significant factor or worse still, a "deal breaker".

There have been rumours - but just rumours in the past - that other carriers have rejected DUB due to runway length (EVA among them), but if we could get some confirmation that it is causing a problem ...

[Kitsune]

Sounds perfect for the Classic via DXB...tho' perhaps Shannon (for the nags) might be better......:ok:

[captwannabe]

It would make more sense to have a base at Shannon, or Cork if they further develop the airport. Most of Ireland's industry is located in Cork and Munster, including the likes of Dell, Intel, Pfizer, Apple Computers, and IBM. Cork airport would need significant improvements in infrastructure though, so it should go through Shannon. Kitsune, what are you on about? :rolleyes:

[akerosid]

Just wondering if there was anything more on this, particularly with more 744Fs joining the fleet?

Alternatively, if it's been rejected, can anyone give the reasons - particularly if it's to do with airport capability or runway limitations?