Pharma shipments see Cathay carry 12% more cargo in June
"We observed a 34% tonnage improvement for Cathay Expert compared with the previous month."
Cathay Pacific carried 124,568 tonnes of cargo in June 2024, an increase of 12 percent compared with June 2023.
"The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 5.6 percent year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 59.6 percent while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 9.4 percent year on year," says an official release.
In the first six months of 2024, tonnage increased by 10.5 percent to 719,464 tonnes against a 11.4 percent increase in AFTKs and a 4.6 percent increase in RFTKs compared with the same period for 2023, the release added.
“June is traditionally a slower month for air cargo; however, demand was stronger than anticipated and we observed strong year-on-year tonnage growth from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, Japan and Europe in particular," says Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Cathay Pacific. "Across our network, our tonnage was three percent higher than May and 12 percent above June last year. In terms of commodity mix, we observed an uptick of pharmaceutical shipments, especially from Europe.
“In June, we relaunched Cathay Expert to provide customers with a fully customised handling solution for their odd size, heavy or fragile cargo. The response from our customers has been positive and we observed a 34 percent tonnage improvement for Cathay Expert compared with the previous month."
Outlook
The second half of the year is the traditional peak period for cargo, and Cathay is expecting healthy demand seen throughout the first half of the year to continue. "Market sentiment, particularly out of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, continues to be positive," says Lau. "We will continue to adjust our freighter capacity to accommodate our customers’ needs, including adding more freighter capacity to the Americas."
Cathay had announced earlier this month that on July 31, 2024, "we will buy back the remaining 50 percent – HK$9.75 billion – of the preference shares that were issued to the Hong Kong SAR Government as part of our recapitalisation in 2020, and pay any remaining unpaid preference share dividends up to 31 July 2024," says Lau.
This will bring the total amount of the preference share dividends paid to the Hong Kong SAR Government over its holding period to HK$2.44 billion, Lau added.
"We would like to thank the Hong Kong SAR Government and all shareholders for their invaluable support both during and since the pandemic."
