Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | Jun 12, 2012 10:38AM EDT
Germany’s Lufthansa Cargo carried 12.3 percent less freight in May than a year ago as Europe’s largest scheduled cargo carrier continues to cut capacity to stay profitable in a weakening global market.
The drop, to 144,000 metric tons, left traffic for the first five months of the year down 10.2 percent at 713,000 tonnes.
Cargo revenue shrank 9.2 percent on 5.3 percent less capacity, which trimmed the load factor by 2.8 percentage points to 65.4 percent.
The Lufthansa group, which includes Swiss WorldCargo, reported freight traffic down 10.7 percent at 164,000 tonnes. Revenue dipped 7.7 percent, and capacity was reduced by 3.8 percent, which resulted in a 2.7 points decline in the load factor to 63.4 percent.
Traffic on the Americas network slumped 12.8 percent to 49,000 tonnes, and Asia/Pacific volume also dropped 12.8 percent to 46,000 tonnes.
Lufthansa’s traffic is falling faster than its main rivals but it is expected to pick up in the second half of the year as the global market grows.
Air France-KLM’s cargo revenue fell 8.8 percent in May from a year ago. By contrast, International Airlines Group, the merged British Airways-Iberia carrier, booked a 4 percent increase in revenue on 5.5 percent more capacity.
Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
