Cathay Pacific cargo carried up 18% in April

Cathay Pacific carried 109,372 tonnes of cargo in April 2023, an increase of 18.4 percent compared with April 2022 when cargo capacity was significantly reduced due to stricter aircrew quarantine measures.

"The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 93.3 percent year-on-year," says an official release.

"The cargo load factor decreased by 16.6 percentage points to 63.6 percent, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased by 143.7 percent year-on-year. In the first four months of 2023, the tonnage increased by 30.8 percent against a 168.4 percent increase in capacity and a 118.1 percent increase in RFTKs compared with the same period for 2022."

Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau says: "Demand for our cargo business was impacted by the holiday period in April. As a result, overall tonnage in April was down 10 percent month on month with a total of 109,372 tonnes carried while capacity decreased five percent compared with March as we optimised schedules. One area that continues to show positive momentum was e-commerce demand from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland across our network, which remained strong. "

Lau adds that short-term demand has been affected by the Labour Day and Golden Week holidays at the beginning of May, which is expected to improve over the subsequent weeks. "We are continuing to adjust our freighter network to reflect any significant changes in trade flows and business opportunities. As the belly capacity from our passenger operations grows, we are able to offer more choices to our customers and we continue to see good demand momentum with our specialist cargo solutions across the expanding network.”