Cathay Pacific Group said its two cargo arms Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon saw tonnage fall in May as business continued to be impacted by geopolitical tensions and resulting dampened market sentiment.
Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon combined carried 168,270 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 3.9 per cent compared to the same month last year.
The cargo and mail load factor fell by 4.7 percentage points to 63.9 per cent. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was up by 4.6 per cent while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) dropped by 2.6 per cent.
In the first five months of 2019, the tonnage fell by five per cent against a one per cent increase in capacity and a 5.3 per cent decrease in RFTKs.
Cathay Pacific director commercial and cargo, Ronald Lam said: “Our cargo business continued to be adversely affected by geopolitical tensions and resulting dampened market sentiment.
“Despite positive capacity growth in May, cargo revenue saw negative growth over last year. Both volume and yield incurred decline year-on-year. We shall remain vigilant in order to best match our capacities to changes in market demand and trade flow.”
