Cathay Pacific today released its traffic figures for March 2023.
The airline carried 121,776 tonnes of cargo last month, an increase of 25.3% compared with March 2022, when cargo capacity was significantly reduced due to stricter aircrew quarantine measures.
The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 102.5% year-on-year.
The cargo load factor decreased by 14.6 percentage points to 66.9%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased by 146.7% year-on-year.
In the first three months of 2023, the tonnage increased by 35.6% against a 178.4% increase in capacity and a 128.1% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2022.
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “For our cargo business, tonnage carried in March saw double-digit growth of 17% over February as volumes recovered after the Lunar New Year holiday, and we operated an enhanced freighter schedule to capture expected demand.
“E-commerce shipments from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland were the key drivers of growth; however, other regions remained relatively flat, reflecting the ongoing weaker demand for global airfreight.
“We continued to enhance our cargo customer proposition in March, with the launch of our Cathay Mail solution.
“The refreshed suite of digitised tools allows greater transparency for our post office customers, enabling package-level track-and-trace visibility and improved efficiencies in mail capacity planning and administrative handling which their customers expect, especially as they compete in the express e-commerce segment.”
“In April we expect that the Ching Ming Festival, Easter and Ramadan will dampen market demand.
“We will adjust our freighter capacity in an agile manner to reflect the demand picture, which remains variable but overall softer than prior periods.
“We are nevertheless continuing to expand market coverage for our customers, as the cargo belly space and network offered by our widebody passenger fleet continues to grow.
“Earlier this month, Hong Kong International Airport was once again named the busiest cargo airport in the world in 2022.
“As the city’s home carrier, we worked hard to ensure the movement of important cargo was maintained despite significant challenges and operational constraints last year.
“We are very proud to have contributed to this achievement and remain committed to rebuilding the Hong Kong international aviation hub to surpass pre-pandemic levels of airfreight tonnage ahead.”
