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Cathay Pacific carried 9.6% more cargoes in July from the same month last year
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Despite this, the July cargo revenue ton kilometers slipped 0.5% year-on-year
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The airline’s cargo load factor was down 1.5 percentage points to 58.3% while available cargo ton kilometers rose by 2.1%
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Also in July, Cathay Pacific carried more than two million passengers in a single month for the first time since the pandemic
Cathay Pacific carried 9.6% more cargo in July to 126,797 tons compared to the same month last year.
The July cargo revenue ton kilometers (RFTKs), however, slipped 0.5% year-on-year.
The airline’s cargo load factor was down 1.5 percentage points to 58.3%, while available cargo ton kilometers (AFTKs) rose by 2.1% year-on-year.
In the first seven months of the year, tonnage increased by 10.3% to a total of 846,261 tons, compared to a 9.9% hike in AFTKs and 3.8% rise in RFTKs posted in the same period last year.
Cathay Pacific’s July 2024 traffic figures showed a new milestone was reached by carrying more than two million passengers in a single month for the first time since the pandemic.
The airline carried 2,008,225 passengers for the month, an increase of 15.1% compared to July 2023.
According to chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau, “Cargo demand remained strong in July with healthy year-on-year tonnage growth. Across our network, our tonnage was 2% higher than in June and 10% above July last year.”
Lau added that given July is traditionally a softer month for demand, “this was encouraging and bodes well for August.”
In terms of commodity mix, an uptick was noted in perishable goods shipments from Southeast Asia and South West Pacific into Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.
Lau also said Cathay Courier was relaunched in July with a focus on digitalization. Thus, customers who choose to send their urgent shipments with Cathay Cargo are assured greater transparency as these can be tracked online.
July 2024’s revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 16.1% year-on-year. Passenger load factor dropped 3.8 percentage points to 85.5%, while available seat kilometers (ASKS) went up 21.2% year-on-year.
“Marking the start of the traditional summer travel peak, July was a milestone month for Cathay Pacific,” said Lau. The 85.5% load factor was the highest of any month this year.
The robust demand was driven by greater popularity of long-haul flights to and from Hong Kong, followed by a surge in demand for travel to short-haul destinations in Japan and Southeast Asia. Then there was also the demand due to the Olympic Games in Paris.
Looking ahead, “we expect that the robust travel demand seen in July will continue through August, while September will receive a boost from students returning to the UK ahead of the new school year,” Lau said.
Concerning cargo, Lau added: “We expect that demand will remain at healthy levels as we head towards what we anticipate will be a strong peak from September until the year end.”
