Cathay Pacific Cargo 2022 revenue down 17%

Cathay Pacific Cargo revenue declined 17 percent to HK$27 billion ($3.5 billion) in 2022 on 30 percent decline in cargo revenue tonne kilometres, partially offset by 18 percent increase in yield to HK$4.67 ($0.6).

"Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), decreased by 19 percent mainly due to the reduction in cargo capacity operated, particularly in the first part of the year, due to elevated Covid-19 crew quarantine restrictions. Total tonnage decreased by 13.4 percent to 1.2 million tonnes, and load factor was 70.6 percent compared with 81.4 percent in 2021."

"Cathay Pacific has experienced three challenging years due to the Covid-19 pandemic with 2022 very much being a year of two halves," says Patrick Healy, Chair, Cathay Pacific. "The emergence of the Omicron variant at the beginning of the year led to increasingly stringent travel and operational restrictions during the first few months of 2022, particularly in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. This significantly constrained our ability to operate both passenger and freighter flights. The challenge this posed for our business was exemplified on March 12, 2022 when we carried just 58 passengers.

"As the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong improved and these restrictions were progressively adjusted from May 1 onwards, we were able to slowly add back some of our flight capacity. The most significant adjustments came in September when the quarantine requirements for both passengers entering Hong Kong and for Hong Kong-based aircrew were lifted."

2022 results/cargo operations
The Cathay Pacific Group, including airlines, subsidiaries and associates, reported an attributable loss of HK$6.5 billion ($845 million) in 2022 compared to a loss of HK$5.5 billion ($715 million) in 2021. Total revenue increased 12 percent to HK$51 billion ($6.6 billion) out of which cargo revenue was HK$30.5 billion ($4 billion), down 15 percent.

Cathay resumed operating a full freighter schedule in August. "As we added more passenger flights, the additional belly capacity provided by our passenger aircraft enabled us to offer more options to our cargo customers. By the end of the year, the Group was operating about two-thirds of pre-pandemic cargo flight capacity levels."

Cathay launched priority service that provides cargo customers with a suite of different options for time-sensitive shipments across our various cargo solutions "including the new top tier, First (PR1), which guarantees the highest commitment on speed and priority."

The joint business agreement between Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa Cargo on routes between Hong Kong and Europe was expanded with the entry of Swiss WorldCargo into the arrangement. "The three airlines are now working closely together on network planning, sales, IT and ground handling initially on traffic from Hong Kong to Zurich and Frankfurt, providing greater choice and more attractive offers for our cargo customers."

Cathay Pacific Cargo consolidated and refreshed its comprehensive solution for pharmaceutical customers under a new name Cathay Pharma, and made it easier for customers to identify all of the possible options for pharmaceutical shipments in a more streamlined way.