HONG KONG: Cathay group cargo declines 9% in June

Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair combined traffic figures for June show a year-on-year drop in the amount of cargo and mail carried, attributing it to the traditional low season, alongside an increase in passenger numbers.

The two airlines carried 134,980 tonnes of cargo and mail in June, a 9.1 per cent decrease compared to the same month last year, while the cargo and mail load factor was down 8.4 percentage points to 67 per cent. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 6.3 per cent, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown were down by 5.5 per cent. In the first half of the year, tonnage dropped by 4.1 per cent compared to a capacity increase of 14.6 per cent.

"We saw continued weakness out of our key Mainland China and Hong Kong markets in June, but this is traditionally a quieter time of year in the airfreight industry," said Cathay Pacific general manager cargo sales & marketing James Woodrow. "The consistently strong demand seen throughout 2010 was certainly not the norm. Our India routes continued to perform well and we will launch a new twice-weekly freighter service to Bengaluru in August to further boost our presence in the subcontinent."

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2.27 million passengers in June – up 2.4 per cent on the same month last year – while the passenger load factor fell by 3.9 percentage points to 81.5 per cent.

Separately, Cathay Pacific Airways chief executive John Slosar said he expects a "normal" second-half recovery in cargo traffic and added that Cathay expected to receive the first of 10 new Boeing 747-8 freighters by late September or early October with the remainder by the end of 2012.