Cathay Pacific Cargo suffers a 31.8% fall in January’s volumes

747-400F Cathay Pacific

Quarantine measures imposed on Hong Kong-based aircrew saw Cathay Pacific suffer a 31.8% fall in January’s cargo volumes to 74,242 tonnes compared with the same month in 2021.

The Hong Kong-based passenger and freighter aircraft operator advised that, due to ongoing strict crew quarantine requirements, it will continue to operate a reduced schedule for long-haul cargo operations.

Services to Europe and the Middle East will be served by passenger aircraft carrying cargo only, while trans-Pacific frequencies will be similar to January.

Cathay’s cargo flight capacity is likely to remain less than one-third of pre-COVID-19 levels in the first quarter, said the carrier.

Last month’s cargo volume was also a 55.5% decrease compared with pre-Covid January 2019. January’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 64.4% year-on-year, and were down 73.6% compared to January 2019.

The cargo load factor decreased by 2.8 percentage points to 76.6%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 63.1% year-on-year, and was down by 78.8% versus January 2019.

On cargo, airline management said in a statement: “In light of the additional quarantine measures imposed on Hong Kong-based aircrew, our cargo flight capacity in January reduced by about 69% compared with December 2021, to about 21% of pre-COVID-19 levels.