Mike King, Special Correspondent | Sep 14, 2012 9:20AM EDT
Cathay Pacific Airways saw cargo volumes lose further ground in August but predicted a rebound in the latter part of this month.
The carrier said combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair cargo and mail volumes dropped 6.9 percent year-over-year to 122,351 tonnes in August, lower than the monthly uplift in each of the last three months.
James Woodrow, general manager cargo sales & marketing, said demand was traditionally weak in August but said volumes should increase from mid-September onwards “driven by the shipment of hi-tech products from the key manufacturing centres in Mainland China.”
Cathay’s load factor was down by 3.0 percentage points to 61.9 percent last month, while capacity contracted by 6.1 percent.
Measured by cargo and mail tonne kilometers flown, uplift in August was 10.4 percent down year-over-year.
In the first eight months of 2012, Cathay’s tonnage was 9.6 percent lower than a year earlier, against a capacity drop of 5.5 percent.
Contact Mike King at michael@borderline.eu.com.