Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried 142,122 tonnes of cargo and mail in December, down 11.9 per cent on the same month in 2010. The cargo and mail load factor was down by 9.6 percentage points to 67.8 per cent.
Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 3.9 per cent, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown were down by 9.0 per cent. For the year as whole, tonnage dropped by 8.6 per cent compared to a capacity increase of 6.9 per cent, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown fell by 5.2 per cent.
Cathay Pacific general manager cargo sales & marketing James Woodrow said: “The traditional year-end peak for our cargo business simply didn’t happen and our December figures were a disappointing end to what was a challenging year overall. Demand out of our key markets in Hong Kong and Mainland China remain soft and there is no sign of any upturn in prospect as we move into 2012.
“On the positive side, we have been seeing good contributions from recently added destinations such as Chongqing, Chengdu and Zaragoza and we will continue to seek out new business opportunities.”
