Cathay Pacific’s Volume Boosted by E-commerce and Fresh Shipments

E-commerce and fresh product shipments helped Cathay Pacific boost its cargo volumes both month on month and year on year in July as capacity picked up.

The airline carried 115,729 tonnes of cargo last month, an increase of 14.9% compared with July 2022. Cargo tonnage also grew 4% month on month.

July’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 24.6% year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 11.2 percentage points to 59.8%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased by 47.9% year on year.

In the first seven months of 2023, the tonnage increased by 22.4% against a 102.5% increase in capacity and a 71.1% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2022.

Chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “While overall cargo demand in July remained at similar levels compared with June, e-commerce traffic continued to be a bright spot holding volumes up. Movement of seasonal fresh produce has also been active, contributing to good volume growth under our Cathay Fresh solution. All in all, cargo tonnage in July grew 4% month on month.”

Lau also noted that demand had been strong on the passenger side of the business in line with the traditional summer peak. Cathay Pacific carried a total of 1,744,374 passengers last month, an increase of 693.8% compared with July 2022.

In contrast with the passenger business, Cathay expects cargo volumes to remain flat throughout the summer, although demand is expected to pick up.

Lau said: “On the cargo side, while we expect volumes to remain flat for the rest of the summer period, we anticipate demand will pick up from the end of the third quarter as we enter the traditional peak period for air cargo. Overall, we anticipate our cargo business will continue to perform solidly throughout the second half of 2023.”

Despite increasing volumes, Cathay Cargo saw its revenues decline in the first half of the year.