Cathay cargo carried up 11% in March on HK, China demand
E-commerce and express shipments increase due to end-of-quarter rush
Cathay Pacific carried 134,551 tonnes of cargo in March 2024, an increase of 11 percent compared with March 2023.
The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres increased four percent year on year, says an official release. "The cargo load factor decreased by 4.3 percentage points to 62.7 percent while available cargo tonne kilometres increased by 11 percent year on year."
In the first three months of 2024, tonnage increased by 11 percent to a total of 356,380 tonnes against a 15 percent increase in capacity and a six percent increase in revenue tonne kilometres year-on-year.
“Cargo demand was stronger in March with our tonnage up by 26 percent compared with the previous month and up by 11 percent compared to March 2023," says Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Cathay Pacific. "Cargo demand out of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland picked up quickly after factories reopened following the Chinese New Year holidays, and we observed an increase in e-commerce and express shipments due to the end-of-quarter rush."
Outlook
As the largest cargo operator at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), we also congratulate HKIA on once again being named the world's busiest cargo airport in 2023 – a status it has held for 13 of the past 14 years, Lau added. "We are extremely proud to be part of this incredible success story, and remain committed to continuing to work together with all stakeholders to further grow Hong Kong as the world’s leading air cargo hub.
“In terms of cargo, we expect e-commerce demand to remain strong and for overall air cargo demand to be stable on long-haul routes."
