Cathay Pacific December figures

CATHAY Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for December 2009 show a sharp growth in cargo and mail tonnage compared to December 2008. However, this growth is distorted by the dramatic drop in demand last year. For 2009 as a whole, both passenger and cargo traffic showed a decline compared to the previous year.The two airlines carried a total of 144,000 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, up 25 per cent on the same month in 2008 when the full impact of the financial crisis was being felt. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 15.7 per cent to 78.6 per cent, while capacity for the month, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was 3.3 per cent down. For 2009 as a whole, tonnage fell by 7.1 per cent against a capacity reduction of 13.1 per cent.Cathay Pacific’s general manager cargo sales and marketing, Titus Diu, said: “Demand was very strong in December, with the backlog of freight in the key Hong Kong and Shanghai markets helping to stretch out the peak. December’s load factor was the highest of the year, in part due to the capacity reduction, which helped to push up yield. It was pleasing to see the year end strongly and we expect to see demand remain fairly robust in the build-up to the Chinese New Year.”