Cathay/Dragonair cargo volume up 4% over June 2007

Cathay Pacific Airways and sister airline Dragonair carried 137,680 tons of cargo and mail between them in June, up 4 percent on June 2007, Hong Kong-based Cathay said Monday.

Capacity for the month, measured in available cargo/mail ton kilometers, grew 2.2 percent while the cargo and mail load factor edged up 0.5 percent to 67.5 percent. Both cargo tonnage and capacity for the year to date have risen 6.9 percent.

Demand remained fairly robust in most markets in June with the exception of Northeast Asia, and we were pleased to see cargo and mail tonnage growth stay ahead of capacity growth, said Titus Diu, Cathay Pacific general manager cargo sales and marketing, in a statement. Our cargo business has been given a boost by the launch of passenger services to Chennai and (Bangalore), but the continued rise in jet fuel costs is having a serious impact on our bottom line.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong International Airport saw a more modest growth in cargo volume, 2.4 percent, to 312,000 metric tons, according to the Airport Authority of Hong Kong.

In a statement, AAHK said shipments from China to its trading partners have slowed and that some non time-sensitive shipments have moved to sea freight. 

Source: American Shipper