Cathay keeping its eye on growth after a soft start to 2019

Cathay Pacific Cargo saw a softer start to 2019 after a record-breaking 2018 but is seeing market demand “picking up gradually” after the Chinese New Year.

Frank Yau, head of cargo sales at the Hong Kong-based carrier, writing in the Cargo Clan magazine, also announced the introduction from March of “a new structure” for his team that aims to be “more customer-centric, agile, and resilient,” although no further details were available.

Wrote Yau: “Cathay Pacific had a record-breaking year in 2018 and in February, we announced that we expect a HK$2.3bn profit, a positive result that reflects the record year for cargo.

“The cargo market has had a softer start to 2019 in comparison to last January. We carried 166,735 tonnes of cargo and mail in January, a decrease of 3.4% on 2018 figures.

“The market demand is picking up gradually after the Chinese New Year, and we will continue to monitor the developments. By working closely with our business partners and being more responsive to the market, we expect our business will be back on the growth trend again.”

Yau continued: “We are of course keeping an eye on developments in international trade and resolutions to the Brexit issue, but our key focus remains on our three key differentiators – expertise, quality and innovation. Although the market is less certain in the short run, we remain confident in the medium and long term.”