Cathay Pacific is anticipating cargo demand to remain robust through the rest of the peak season driven mainly by demand in e-commerce, high-tech and electronic goods.

The Hong Kong flag carrier made the forecast after reporting a double-digit year-on-year increase in its October volumes.

For the first time this year, Cathay also operated more than 10,000 passenger and cargo flight sectors in a single month last month.

The airline carried 142,323 tonnes of cargo in October 2024, an increase of 14.3% compared with October 2023.

This was also higher than the 133,079 tonnes of cargo transported the previous month in September.

Last month's cargo throughput was also higher than the 124,236 tonnes of cargo the carrier reported in August.

Cathay noted that in October, cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 9.8% year on year.

The cargo load factor increased by 0.8 percentage points to 61.5%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 8.4% year on year.

The carrier said that in the first 10 months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 10.4% to a total of 1,245,899 tonnes, against an 8.8% increase in AFTKs and a 4.1% increase in RFTKs, compared with the same period in 2023.

"The traditional cargo peak season continued in October, with tonnage 7% higher than the previous month and 14% above October last year. Our cargo business continued to perform well despite various seasonal holidays. This momentum was driven not only by demand from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, but also from our broader network, particularly the Americas," commented Lavinia Lau, chief customer and commercial officer at Cathay.

She noted that while general cargo demand continued to grow during this period, the carrier also noted an increase in shipments through our Cathay Expert services due to machinery movements out of Northeast Asia.

"Demand for Cathay Priority also maintained its upward trend, reflecting a stronger need from shippers to replenish inventory ahead of the upcoming festivals and year-end sales events," Lau added.

Looking ahead, Cathay expects freight volumes to remain strong — mainly driven by the continued surge in e-commerce demand.

"For cargo, the robust demand we have been seeing is expected to continue throughout the rest of the peak season, driven by e-commerce, high-tech and electronic goods from the Chinese Mainland, Southeast Asia, as well as perishables from South West Pacific and the Americas," Lau said.

On November 14 this year, Cathay announced its proposed repurchase of HK$6.74 billion 2.75% guaranteed convertible bonds due 2026, which were issued on February 5, 2021.