Cathay, Dragonair July cargo up 5%

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways and sister airline Dragonair carried a combined 142,770 tons of cargo and mail in July, up 5 percent against the same month last year.

Capacity for the month, measured in available cargo/mail ton kilometers, grew 2.4 percent while the cargo and mail load factor dipped by 0.1 percentage point to 66 percent.

We were pleased to see cargo and mail tonnage growth once again stay ahead of capacity growth, though demand into and out of Northeast Asia remained weak, said Titus Diu, Cathay Pacific's general manager cargo sales and marketing.

The continued high price of fuel is making it more difficult to operate profitably, particularly on long-haul routes, making it imperative to move to a more fuel-efficient fleet. Our second Boeing 747-400ERF Extended Range Freighter, which arrives in August, will be a boon on long-haul trunk routes. For the year to date, the two airlines have seen a 6.6 percent rise in cargo and mail tonnage (971,169 tons), compared to a 6.2 percent capacity climb.  

Source: American Shipper