Cathay, Dragonair cargo increases 22.9pc in March

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair have announced a 22.9 per cent year-on-year air cargo volume increase in March, totalling 159,270 tonnes.

The cargo and mail load factor was 81.7 per cent, a rise of 13.8 percentage points while capacity in tonne kilometres rose 0.7 per cent, said a company statement. For the year to date, a tonnage rise of 24.1 per cent compared to a capacity decline of 1.1 per cent.

Cathay and Dragonair carried 2,221,694 passengers in March, up six per cent year on year. The month's passenger load factor was 85.7 per cent, an increase of 6.6 percentage points while capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs) decreased 1.6 per cent.

For the first three months of 2010, combined passengers carried was up 6.4 per cent compared to an ASK drop of 1.6 per cent.

Said Cathay cargo manager James Woodrow: "Demand in March was strong with improved yield and particularly high load factors. Regional traffic continued its good start to the year. Additional freighter flights were added in the second half of March to cope with the peak demand and the outlook for April continues to be promising."

Said Cathay general manager Tom Owen: "Passenger volume and yield trends continued to improve through the month, which finished with a boost to leisure traffic in the lead up to the Easter holidays. Premium demand was also sustained at levels significantly higher than during last year's market crash, but still fell short of the pre-recession levels we used to enjoy."

(Source: www.schednet.com)