Cathay Pacific cargo carried up 25% in March
Cargo revenue tonne kilometres increased 102% year-on-year
Cathay Pacific carried 121,776 tonnes of cargo in March 2023, an increase of 25 percent compared with March 2022 "when our cargo capacity was significantly reduced due to stricter aircrew quarantine measures," says an official release.
Cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 102 percent year-on-year. While the cargo load factor decreased by 14.6 percentage points to 67 percent, capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased 147 percent year-on-year.
In the first three months of 2023, tonnage increased by 36 percent (320,847 tonnes) against a 178 percent increase in capacity (2.9 million) and a 128 percent increase in RFTKs (1.9 million) compared with the same period for 2022, the release added.
Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Cathay Pacific
“For our cargo business, tonnage carried in March saw double-digit growth of 17 percent over February as volumes recovered after the Lunar New Year holiday, and we operated an enhanced freighter schedule to capture expected demand," says Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Cathay Pacific. "E-commerce shipments from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland were the key drivers of growth. However, other regions remained relatively flat, reflecting the ongoing weaker demand for global airfreight.
“We continued to enhance our cargo customer proposition in March with the launch of our Cathay Mail solution. The refreshed suite of digitised tools allows greater transparency for our post office customers, enabling package-level track-and-trace visibility and improved efficiencies in mail capacity planning and administrative handling which their customers expect, especially as they compete in the express e-commerce segment."
Outlook
The Ching Ming Festival, Easter and Ramadan will dampen market demand in April, adds Lau. "We will adjust our freighter capacity in an agile manner to reflect the demand picture, which remains variable but overall softer than prior periods. We are nevertheless continuing to expand market coverage for our customers, as the cargo belly space and network offered by our wide body passenger fleet continues to grow.
“Earlier this month, Hong Kong International Airport was once again named the busiest cargo airport in the world in 2022. As the city’s home carrier, we worked hard to ensure the movement of important cargo was maintained despite significant challenges and operational constraints last year. We are very proud to have contributed to this achievement and remain committed to rebuilding the Hong Kong international aviation hub to surpass pre-pandemic levels of air freight tonnage ahead.”
