Cargolux Airlines reported a net profit after taxes of US$122.3 million for 2017, more than 20 times more than in 2016, according to annual results released by the company.

Freight tonne kilometres increased by 12.3% year-on-year and the overall load factor rose to 70.1% for the year.

The Cargolux Group sold a total of 1.07 million tonnes, an 11% increase and the first time it had exceeded 1 million chargeable tonnes flown. Block hours went up by 7% to 131,212, while average daily aircraft utilization was 15:08 hours.

Worldwide market share grew to 4%, placing Cargolux in sixth place in IATA’s ranking of carriers in terms of international scheduled freight operations.

“The outstanding results for 2017 are a reflection of Cargolux’ employees’ dedication, passion and commitment to make this year a successful one on all fronts,” said Richard Forson, president and CEO of Cargolux. “Our employees are at the heart of Cargolux’ success and continually endeavour to ensure all requirements are met to provide customer satisfaction and ensure business sustainability. At the same time, I would also like to thank all of our loyal customers for their support.”

During the year, Cargolux launch its 2025 Strategy to ensure that it remains a sustainable, relevant and competitive provider of quality services to customers. This includes a comprehensive review of all business processes, technological developments and innovation, new product development and a focus on the well-being of employees.

Cargolux carried more than 250,000 tonnes of freight to and from China, including 147,000 tonnes to and from the Zhengzhou hub. The airline operates 19-25 flights to mainland China every week.

In 2017, Cargolux and Emirates SkyCargo entered into a comprehensive partnership, involving capacity swaps on each other’s aircraft to certain destinations and a new freighter service operated by Emirates between Luxembourg and Dubai which complements the thrice-weekly service already operated by Cargolux.

Cargolux also added Douala and Lubumbashi to its African network, which now consists of 14 destinations, and started operations in Quito.

Flight operations were adapted to reduce noise pollution and CO2 emissions, resulting in a carbon footprint reduction of 2.2% in 2017, according to Cargolux.