Cathay rides air cargo peak in November
19 / 12 / 2023
Photo: Cathay Pacific
The peak season has lived up to its reputation for Cathay Pacific with a 20% increase in cargo tonnage in November year on year on the back of increased capacity.
Cathay carried 123,970 tonnes of cargo in November 2023, an increase of 20.3% compared with November 2022. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 14.2% year on year.
The cargo load factor decreased by 5.8 percentage points to 61.1%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 25.1% year on year as the carrier continued to re-introduce capacity following the Covid pandemic.
And in the first 11 months of 2023, tonnage increased by 19.5% against a 64.2% increase in AFTKs and a 43.6% increase in RFTKs, compared with the same period for 2022.
Cathay said the growth in air cargo was largely driven by seasonal sales events and year-end demand.
Chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “Air cargo demand got stronger in November as we reached the middle of the peak season.
“Tonnage grew around 20% compared with the same month in 2022, largely driven by seasonal sales events such as ‘Singles’ Day’ and ‘Black Friday’, the Thanksgiving holidays, as well as year-end demand as we approach the Christmas holiday period.”
Notably, while e-commerce has consistently been a strong vertical for Cathay, it was not the only big business area for Cathay last month.
“Aside from e-commerce, demand was also robust in traditional air cargo commodities such as high-end electronics, automotives and perishables.”
Cathay is positive on demand continuing in December.
“In terms of cargo, the outlook for December continues to be positive,” said Lau. “We expect demand to remain strong through to the beginning of the year-end holidays.”
Belly cargo is also being fuelled by strong demand for passenger services. This is the first Christmas holiday period since Hong Kong’s borders fully reopened, pointed out Lau.
Cathay Pacific carried a total of 1,633,145 passengers in November 2023, an increase of 210% compared with November 2022.
Last month, Cathay Cargo, which recently decided to purchase six A350Fs, said that the most pronounced air cargo peak was happening out of Hong Kong, led by e-commerce exports from the Greater Bay Area.
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