Cathay Cargo tonnage up 6.1% in July 2026

Cathay Cargo carried 148,638 tonnes in July 2026, up 6.1% year-on-year, as demand outpaced a marginal capacity dip.

Revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) climbed 1.5% to 764.68 million, while available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs) slipped 0.1% to 1.29 billion, capacity essentially flat, demand pulling ahead. That gap pushed the cargo load factor to 59.2%, up 0.9 percentage points on July 2025.

Freighter operations tightened. The carrier flew 1,249 freighter sectors during the month, down 2.7% year-on-year, fewer flights doing more work, reflected in the load factor gain.

Cumulative figures through July paint a healthier trend. AFTKs rose 3.3% to 8.99 billion, RFTKs gained 4.4% to 5.28 billion, and cargo carried jumped 8.1% to 1.02 million tonnes. The year-to-date load factor stands at 59.2%, up 0.6 percentage points on the same period last year.

Freighter sectors, however, remain down 2.3% cumulatively at 8,523, Cathay running a leaner freighter schedule even as tonnage climbs, a sign of better utilisation rather than fleet expansion.

Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: "Cargo demand remained resilient across our network, with strong growth from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia. Our specialist solutions continued to perform well, with Cathay Expert benefitting from robust semiconductor flows within Asia, while Cathay Dangerous Goods was boosted by increased lithium battery shipments from Northeast Asia and the Greater Bay Area.

"Looking ahead, while we expect the summer holiday period will affect demand on certain routes, we anticipate that demand for technology shipments will remain robust. We will deploy additional freighter capacity to the Americas starting this month to meet customer demand, along with additional freighter capacity from Air Hong Kong on selected regional routes later this year."