Cathay Pacific Cargo says flexibility is key in tough market

Cathay Pacific believes that an agile approach to making network changes will help the carrier combat current weak market conditions.

Writing in the airline’s Cargo Clan publication, head of cargo markets and products John Cheng said that it is well known that cargo is a cyclical business and that “all signs point to the industry experiencing headwinds after two very good years”.

“This normal fluctuation has been exacerbated by global trade tensions affecting two of our principal markets, along with other geopolitical uncertainties around the globe,” he said.

“However, we can address these imbalances through agile redeployment of our fleet across our wider network, enabling us to match capacity to demand.

“We will also keep a close eye on the market, although this will not deter us from planning for the long term. We firmly believe in the importance of air cargo and we will continue to invest in developing new products and opportunities for our customers.”

The Cathay Pacific business saw cargo volumes decline by 3.9% year on year in May to 168,270 tonnes. Over the first five months of the year volumes are 5% behind 2018 levels at 815,175 tonnes.

Cathay Pacific director commercial and cargo Ronald Lam said: “Our cargo business continued to be adversely affected by geopolitical tensions and resulting dampened market sentiment. Despite positive capacity growth in May, cargo revenue saw negative growth over last year. Both volume and yield incurred decline year-on-year. We shall remain vigilant in order to best match our capacities to changes in market demand and trade flow.”