Cathay-Dragonair cargo up 15pc in October to 164,927 tonnes

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways together with sister carrier Dragonair carried 15.1 per cent more cargo year on year in October to 164,927 tonnes, the carrier announced in its monthly statement.

The cargo and mail load factor was 75.1 per cent, a drop of 1.6 percentage points, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 26.6 per cent. For the year to date, tonnage has grown by 19.9 per cent and cargo/mail tonne kilometres was up by 25.1 per cent compared to a capacity increase of 14.2 per cent.

The two airlines carried 2,293,507 passengers in October - up 14.1 per cent on the same month in 2009. The passenger load factor was 83.2 per cent, a rise of 0.9 percentage points, while capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 12.6 per cent. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried is up 11.2 per cent compared to an ASK rise of four per cent.

Said Cathay Revenue chief Tom Owen said: "Once again we achieved high load factors across most of our network in October, generating much improved revenue quality and volumes in both the Economy and Premium cabins over recent years. Benefiting from a significant rise in capacity, passenger demand out of our key Hong Kong market remained robust, while the China market continued to perform strongly, boosted by demand for the last month of the Shanghai Expo and the Canton Trade Fairs."

Said Cathay chief James Woodrow: "The cargo peak season kicked in last month, with very strong demand out of Hong Kong on all major trunk routes. Demand into Japan and Australia was a high as a result of the strong currencies in both countries, and we put on additional capacity out of Hanoi and Dhaka in response to an increase in export shipments. October saw a big increase in capacity over the same month in 2009, and though back to our full freighter schedule we mounted extra sectors where possible to meet market demand."
(Source:www.schednet.com)