Cathay cargo rises 30pc in usually slow month of May

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways and sister airline Dragonair have announced a year-on-year cargo volume increase of 30 per cent to 158,600 tons in May.

The cargo load factor stood at 79.1 per cent - up 10.9 per cent - while capacity increased 19.7 per cent. Year to date, volume rose 25.4 per cent against a capacity increase of 4.8 per cent.

"May is not strong for air cargo, but this year we saw a continuation of the high demand in the first four months," said mainland cargo chief James Woodrow.

"Demand remained strong and a shortage of capacity helped keep the load factor high. Our own capacity rose due to extra services and charters in response to demand, together with the return of freighters parked in the desert," he said.

Said revenue manager Tom Owen: "Passenger volume and yield improved over the same month in 2009, when our business was hit hard by the downturn and regional flights were affected by the swine flu outbreak."

China traffic did well too, he said, boosted by Shanghai Expo demand. "Although still below pre-crisis levels, the pick-up in demand in our premium cabins continued last month and the overall outlook for the summer peak still remains solid," Mr Owen said.
(Source:www.schednet.com)