Cathay cargo carried up 21% in Dec

Cathay Pacific carried 128,546 tonnes of cargo in December 2023, an increase of 21 percent compared with December 2022.

"The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres increased 14 percent year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 6.5 percentage points to 60.8 percent while available cargo tonne kilometres increased by 26 percent year on year," says an official release.

For the full year of 2023, tonnage increased 20 percent against a 60 percent increase in capacity and a 40 percent increase in revenue tonne kilometres compared with 2022.

“Our cargo business performed well in December, and finished on a high, primarily driven by the strong year-end demand for e-commerce products," says Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Cathay Pacific. "Additionally, there was increased demand for perishable goods for the holiday season. December also saw a pickup in our Live Animal solutions with significant numbers of racehorses being moved across our network in support of the Hong Kong international race events.

“In total, we carried almost 1.4 million tonnes of air cargo throughout 2023 compared with about 1.2 million tonnes in 2022, which was an encouraging result."

Outlook
“In terms of cargo, we expect demand to steadily pick up from the second half of the month with the e-commerce demand on the Americas and European lanes remaining solid and local demand strengthening up to the Lunar New Year holidays.”