Airfreight traffic figures for Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Dragonair reflected another decline in June, said parent company Cathay Pacific Airways.
The two airlines carried 122,170 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 4.3 percent compared to June 2012. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 4 percentage points to 61.7 percent.
Capacity rose by 2.2 percent, while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometers were down by 4 percent.
For the year to date, tonnage has fallen by 1.8 percent compared to a 1.8 percent capacity decrease.
“The airfreight markets remained soft in June and we saw both tonnage and load factor falling despite a slight increase in capacity,” said Cathay Pacific general manager of cargo sales and marketing James Woodrow.
He said there was no change in the overall situation in its key markets Hong Kong and China, while on the long-haul routes, demand to North America continued to be better than to Europe, which remained weak.
Woodrow also reported that the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal (CPCT) in Hong Kong has begun to process import cargo from both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair inbound passenger flights. “The terminal will be fully operational later in the year.”
CPCT in a recent online release said its cargo handling services for Cathay Pacific Airways (Freighters) and Air Hong Kong will start in the latter half of August.
Photo: Dave Hamster
