Cathay April cargo up 24pc, but passengers down 3.6pc

CATHAY Pacific Airways and its sister Dragonair carried a total of 152,808 tonnes of cargo and mail in April, up 24.1 per cent on the same month last year.

The cargo and mail load factor was 79.3 per cent, a rise of 13.6 percentage points, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 6.4 per cent. Year to date, tonnage rose 24.1 per cent compared to a capacity increase of 1.1 per cent, a Cathay statement said.

"Traffic on our key European routes was hit by the volcanic ash cloud disruptions, but we were able to redeploy the capacity to good effect on routes to India, the Middle East and North America," said mainland-Hong Kong cargo chief James Woodrow.

"Demand across the network remained strong throughout the month, particular out of the key Hong Kong and Shanghai markets. Where possible we have been mounting extra sectors and charter flights in response to market needs, and we announced recently that our three remaining parked freighters will soon return from the desert," he said.

Last month, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried 2,169,475 passengers, down 3.6 per cent on April 2009. The month's passenger load factor was 83.9 per cent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points, while capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), fell by 5.8 per cent. In the first four months of the year, the number of passengers carried rose by 3.7 per cent compared to an ASK drop of 2.7 per cent.

Said Cathay revenue chief Tom Owen: "Both the number of passengers carried and our capacity were affected by the volcanic ash induced six-day closure of airspace over most of Europe. However, on all other routes our business held up well with volume and yield trends continuing to improve over the lows of 2009."

(Source: www.schednet.com)