Mike King, Special Correspondent | Aug 15, 2012 9:17AM EDT
Cathay Pacific Airways saw further year-on-year declines in freight traffic last month but volumes were steady compared to June and May.
Cathay Pacific and sister carrier Dragonair carried 125,343 tonnes of cargo and mail in July, a drop of 10.5 percent compared to July 2011 but in line with tonnage uplifted in the previous two months. Measured in cargo and mail tonne kilometers flown, tonnage was down 14 percent compared to a year earlier.
Cathay’s cargo and mail load factor in July was down by 1.9 percentage points year-over-year to 64.7 percent despite capacity measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometers contracting 11.4 percent.
In the year through July, tonnage declined by 9.9 percent year-over-year against a capacity drop of 5.4 percent.
James Woodrow, Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing, said soft demand had continued in July out of the carrier’s two main markets — Hong Kong and mainland China.
“We don’t anticipate that situation to change in August, so our strategy will be to continue to pare back capacity in line with demand,” he said.
“Our sixth Boeing 747-8 Freighter arrived in July and is helping to boost the operating economics on key long-haul routes,” Woodrow said. “Two more of the aircraft will arrive before the end of 2012.”
Contact Mike King at michael@borderline.eu.com.
