Cathay Pacific today released its traffic figures for May 2024. The airline carried 121,088 tonnes of cargo in May 2024, an increase of 10.2% compared with May 2023.
The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 3.8% year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 59.4%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 7.5% year on year.
In the first five months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 10.2% to a total of 594,896 tonnes, against an 11.8% increase in AFTKs and a 4.4% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.
Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer said: “May was, as expected, a slightly quieter period for our travel business compared with previous months as demand slowed down, particularly on our regional routes.
“Cargo demand from Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area remained solid throughout May.
“Across our network, tonnage grew 3% against last month, and 10% compared with May 2023, underpinned by a capacity growth of 7.5%.
“We observed particularly strong growth from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, the Taiwan region and Southeast Asia.
“In terms of commodity mix, there was also an increase in tonnage of general cargo as well as special cargo , with significant movements of high-end electronics, seafood and consumer products. E-commerce continued to perform well.”
Lau added: “For cargo, we expect demand to remain strong as it has been throughout the first five months of 2024. Market sentiment, particularly out of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, remains positive and we will continue to adjust our freighter capacity to suit the needs of our customers.
“Furthermore, we are delighted to have recently relaunched our Cathay Expert solution after listening to the needs of our customers regarding handling project-related cargo.
“This special solution is precisely tailored to provide customers with a fully customised handling for their odd-size, heavy or fragile cargo, and is the latest example of how we are enhancing our services as we strive to become the world’s best air cargo carrier.”