Cathay's cargo volume increases by 7.4% in April '24 from April '23
However, this month's cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) of the airline decreased 0.4% year-on-year.
The Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific carried 117,428 tonnes of cargo in April 2024, as announced in its traffic figures for April 2024. This indicates a 7.4% increase in April this year compared to last year's period. However, the airline's RFTKs dropped by 0.4% this month year-on-year.
"In terms of cargo, tonnage was 13% lower in April than in March. The decrease was expected given the strong quarter-end demand in March and the holidays that fell in the first half of April. However, compared with April last year, tonnage was 7% higher. After the holidays, we observed an uptick in demand with a key driver being e-commerce shipments from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland," said Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Cathay Pacific.
Cathay Pacific also observed a 4.2 percentage points decrease to 59.5% in its cargo load factor. On the other hand, the airline's cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 6.6% year-on-year. "In the first four months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 10.1% to a total of 473,808 tonnes, against a 12.9% increase in AFTKs and a 4.5% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023," as stated in the official release.
The release also highlights the airline's passenger side, which carried 1,741,585 passengers in April 2024—a 26.1% increase from April 2023. Lau added that the Cathay Group will continue adding more destinations and flights to its networks in the coming months. Regarding the future of Cathay's cargo operations, Lau said, "For cargo, we foresee steady growth in tonnage going forward, particularly on cargo lanes between Asia and North America over the coming months."
