The Cathay Group today reported strong traffic figures for August 2025, with Cathay Cargo posting a 13% year-on-year increase in tonnage compared with August 2024.
Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (AFTKs) rose 14.5%, while Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometres (RFTKs) increased 13.2%. For the first eight months of 2025, Cathay Cargo carried 1.08 million tonnes of freight, up 11.4% year-on-year.
Market Highlights
Lavinia Lau, Cathay’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, said:
“We continued to see healthy year-on-year tonnage growth in August. Demand for capacity into the Americas remains robust, and our Cathay Dangerous Goods solution has seen considerable growth, particularly from lithium batteries movements to Oceania.”
Looking ahead, Lau noted that momentum is expected to continue into September’s traditional cargo peak season, driven by new high-tech product launches.
To meet rising demand, Cathay Cargo will introduce additional freighter schedules, including a new weekly service to Madrid starting 13 October 2025.
August 2025 Performance Snapshot
| Metric | August 2025 | % Change vs Aug 2024 | YTD 2025 | % Change YTD vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (000) | 1,350,294 | +14.5% | 9,979,645 | +9.3% |
| Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometres (000) | 761,950 | +13.2% | 5,817,335 | +7.4% |
| Number of freighter flight sectors | 1,320 | +0.8% | 10,049 | -2.4% |
| Cargo carried (000kg) | 139,821 | +12.5% | 1,080,730 | +11.4% |
| Cargo load factor | 56.4% | -0.6% pts | 58.3% | -1.0% pts |