Cathay Pacific today released its traffic figures for December 2022 together with an update on its performance in the year ended 31 December 2022.
The airline carried 106,471 tonnes of cargo last month, a decrease of 21% compared with December 2021, and a 40% decrease compared with the same period in 2019.
The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 22.6% year-on-year, and were down 34% compared with December 2019.
The cargo load factor decreased by 16.9 percentage points to 67.3%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), decreased by 3.2% year-on-year, and was down by 35% versus December 2019.
In the full year of 2022, the tonnage decreased by 13.4% against a 19% decrease in capacity and a 29.8% decrease in RFTKs, as compared with 2021.
Mr Lam said: “In terms of cargo, overall market demand continued to be flat in December, as was the case for the fourth quarter.
“Tonnage saw a mild month-on-month increase of 3% against a 4% increase in cargo flight capacity. Overall in December, we operated 65% of pre-pandemic cargo flight capacity levels.
Based on a preliminary review of the unaudited consolidated management accounts of the Cathay Pacific Group for the year ended 31 December 2022 and the information currently available to the Board of Directors of Cathay Pacific, the Group is expected to record a consolidated loss attributable to shareholders of approximately HK$6.4-7.0 billion. This compares to the attributable loss to shareholders of HK$5.5 billion for the year ended 31 December 2021.
The second-half 2022 results for the Group’s airlines and subsidiaries were a marked improvement over the first-half 2022 results, although still a small loss overall for the full year of 2022.
However, the results from associates, the majority of which are recognised three months in arrears, and which in some cases have already been announced, include significant losses.
Mr. Lam said: “I am very encouraged to see a trend of continuous improvement in our operations and financial performance for our airlines and subsidiaries in the second half of 2022.
“Progressive relaxations to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in Hong Kong enabled us to be operating cash generative overall in the second half of 2022.”
“Concerning cargo, the easing of restrictions for cross-border trucking between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland is welcome news.
“On the other hand, with COVID-19 still impacting various parts of the country, coupled with Chinese New Year occurring in January, the air cargo market will continue to experience challenges until mid-February. We will remain agile in our response to these new challenges.”
