Air Hong Kong (AHK) was founded in 1986 and began charter services using a Boeing 707 Freighter in 1988.

In June 1994, Cathay Pacific (CPA) bought a 75% share in the company, greatly strengthening AHK's position in the market and giving it access to CPA's sophisticated distribution system. AHK remains the only all cargo airline based in Hong Kong.

In February 2002, CPA acquired the outstanding 25% stake in AHK to make it a wholly own subsidiary. A restructuring of operations between both carriers meant that from 1st July 2002, AHK stopped serving Brussels, Manchester and Dubai to focus on serving the Asian region. AHK continued to serve Osaka and Seoul. CPA picked up the routes to Brussels and Manchester and was already serving Dubai.

In October 2002, CPA and DHL Express (DHL) announced a joint venture agreement in which DHL acquired a 30% stake in AHK. Under the agreement, AHK was to purchase a fleet of wide body freighter aircraft to operate DHL's network to the major cities in the Asia Pacific region from AHK's base in Hong Kong.  

In March 2003, CPA sold an additional 10% interest in AHK to DHL. Meanwhile, AHK signed a purchase agreement for six new Airbus A300-600F "General Freighter" aircraft in order to implement its announced plan to expand operations within the Asian region. Eight A300-600F aircraft were delivered to AHK between the second half of 2004 and first half of 2006. AHK was also the launch customer of the A300-600F "General Freighter".

Today, AHK's route network includes Bangkok/Penang, Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Taipei, Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing & Manila served by a fleet of eight A300-600GF aircraft supplemented by wet-leased aircraft.