Cathay’s freight fails to catch up with passenger growth

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair passenger and cargo traffic showed divergent trends in November with a sizeable increase in the former but a fall cargo and mail uplifted compared with the same month in 2014.
The two airlines carried 160,120 tonnes of cargo and mail in November, a 3.0% decrease compared to the same month last year. Load factor fell by 1.4% to 67%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, dropped by 1.2% but cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) fell faster, by 3.2%.
However, in the year to the end of November, tonnage rose by 4.6%, but against a capacity increase of 5.7% and a 5.7% rise in RTKs.
Passenger numbers however were up 8.1% in November compared with 2014.
Cathay Pacific general manager cargo sales and marketing, Mark Sutch said: “We entered the traditional peak period for airfreight in November, but overall demand fell short of our original expectations. We saw a decline in the tonnage carried compared to the same month last year, while yield fell short of expected peak-season levels due to an excess of capacity.”
More positively, he added, there was good demand on transpacific routes and also into and out of India. Cathay’s cargo terminal in Hong Kong also recorded its highest monthly throughput since starting operations.

Share this story

Related Topics

Latest airlines news

WFS strikes DHL cargo deal in France

DHL Aviation has signed a new multi-year contract with Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) to manage freight at its airport stations…

Read More

Share this story

AAPA: February Asia air cargo demand up 10%

Air cargo demand in Asia grew in February “as a result of business and e-commerce activity” said the Association of…

Read More

Share this story

Delta Cargo expands partnership with WebCargo

Delta Cargo has expanded its offering on online booking platform WebCargo by Freightos to include more destinations and products. The…

Read More

Share this story

Air Cargo News

Air Cargo News
Established in 1983, Air Cargo News is the leading source of news, information, interviews, analyses and reports to the global airfreight industry. Our leading portfolio includes print, digital and events that give businesses in the airfreight industry the ability to connect with decision-makers in this sector.