Uncertainty ahead as Cathay's cargo dips 1.3pc in November

HONG Kong's Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic carried 185,135 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a year-on-year decrease of 1.3 per cent, the company said. The cargo and mail load factor dipped by 1.5 percentage points to 70.1 per cent. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased slightly by 0.9 per cent while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased by 1.1 per cent.

In the first eleven months of 2018, tonnage rose 5.7 per cent against a 2.9 per cent increase in capacity and a 5.3 per cent increase in RFTKs.

'In terms of cargo, our overall revenue performance was excellent during November, which is a peak period of the year. E-commerce related movements were boosted by events such as Singles' Day in mainland China, which helped to even out the traditional dip in demand following the Thanksgiving holiday,' said Cathay Pacific director Commercial and Cargo, Ronald Lam.

'However, we face a great deal of demand uncertainty in the coming months due to geopolitical factors that have the potential to impact global trade flows,' said Mr Lam.

'Our overall passenger revenue performance was stable during November, against quite substantial year-on-year capacity growth. First and business class demand remained strong during the month. Of our most recently introduced destinations, Washington DC and Davao City are performing very well. The business outlook for the coming Christmas holiday peak is also positive at this stage,' he said.

Cathay lines carried a total of 2,883,056 passengers last month, an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to November 2017.

The passenger load factor decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 83.3 per cent, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 4.5 per cent. In the first eleven months of 2018, the number of passengers carried grew by 1.9 per cent while capacity increased by 3.3 per cent.

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