Cathay Pacific’s cargo volume sees 4.8 percent y/y increase in March

April 20, 2018: Cathay Pacific’s cargo division has registered an increase of 4.8 percent in cargo volume compared to the same month last year. Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon have carried 189,911 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, according to the figures released by Cathay Pacific Group.

In the first quarter of this year, tonnage for the leading air cargo carrier rose by 8.2 percent against a 4.9 percent increase in capacity.

The airlines transported a total of 3,034,883 passengers last month – an increase of 6.4 percent compared to March 2017. In the first three months of 2018, passenger traffic increased by 3 percent while capacity increased by 3.8 percent.

Ronald Lam, director Commercial and Cargo, Cathay Pacific said: “Our frontend performance continued to be robust in March. Backend demand from major sales areas, including Hong Kong, was boosted by the Easter holiday falling towards the end of the period. On the back of strong demand on long-haul routes, we added capacity to destinations in Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom. Strong traffic into and out of Hong Kong and favourable currency trends contributed to overall yield improvements.

“Meanwhile, cargo revenue continued to track in line with our expectations. We saw a high load factor across the network and improved yield. The pick-up in demand from Hong Kong and mainland China post-Chinese New Year was slower than expected, but transhipments from the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia proved strong.”

However, Cathay Pacific’s main hub Hong Kong Airport also reported surge in cargo traffic in first quarter of 2018. However, cargo numbers declined in the month of March for the gateway.