Cathay Pacific and Dragonair April cargo drops 11pc to 124.531 tonnes
HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific Airways and its unit Dragonair carried 124,531 tonnes of cargo and mail in April, declined 11 per cent year on year, the company announced in its monthly report.
The combined air cargo and mail load factor fell five percentage points to 63.3 per cent. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, dropped 6.8 per cent, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown decreased 13.7 per cent. For the first four months, tonnage has shrunk 10.7 per cent against a capacity reduction of 3.3 per cent.
Cathay Pacific general manager for cargo sales and marketing James Woodrow said: "After the temporary surge in business in March, driven by large shipments of hi-tech products from mainland China, demand softened again out of our key markets in April. The general air cargo market remains soft, especially to Europe, though intra-Asia traffic is holding up better, helped by a recent expansion of the passenger network in the region. Looking forward, we will continue to manage capacity in line with demand, particularly on long-haul flights to Europe and transpacific. Fuel prices continue to be a major concern on these long-haul routes."
But both airlines carried a total of 2.5 million passengers in April, up 11.7 per cent versus the same month in 2011. The passenger load factor also rose 2.8 percentage points to 83.1 per cent. Capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), grew 8.2 per cent. For the year to date, passenger numbers have increased 9.7 per cent compared to a capacity growth of 8.5 per cent.
Said Cathay revenue chief James Tong: "Passenger volumes showed an increase compared to April 2011, though in the same month last year traffic to and from Japan was still being heavily affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Regional traffic last month was boosted by additional Cathay Pacific and Dragonair frequencies. The biggest problem at the moment is yield, which continues to decline in all classes, especially economy, while our business in the premium cabins is coming under increasing pressure."Sino-Indian CO2 defiance2
DATE:2012.5.18
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