Cathay Pacific Group reports tough August amid Hong Kong strikes

Cathay Pacific Group, comprised of Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon airlines, has released its figures for August 2019, which show a decrease in the amount of transported cargo compared with the same time period in 2018.

This summer, ongoing protests in Hong Kong negatively impacted Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon’s operations and subsequent figures.

Weather conditions and the ongoing China-US trade war also affected performance during the month.

Ronald Lam, chief customer and commercial officer at Cathay Pacific Group, commented: “On the cargo side, our business continued to face headwinds,” Lam added. “Tonnage further deteriorated month-on-month across all regions, driven in particular by slow demand over the holiday season in different parts of the world, the effects of tropical storms and disruptions at Hong Kong International Airport.

In August 2019, the Group carried 14% less cargo – 161,394 tonnes – compared with August 2018.

Meanwhile, capacity for the month, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 0.6% and cargo revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs)RFTKs dropped by 11.6%.

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In the first eight months of 2019, the Group’s tonnage fell by 7.1% against a 0.8% increase in capacity and a 7.2% decrease in , compared with the same period for 2018.

The Group also reported that its cargo load factor over the first eight months fell by 7.5 percentage points to 60.9%.

Lam added: “Ongoing geopolitical tensions also continue to affect overall market sentiment. Nevertheless, our outlook for September is slightly more positive and we expect to see demand progressively improve, driven by project shipments and the restocking of inventory as we enter the traditionally high-demand season.”