Cathay Pacific continued to report increased cargo volumes this year, with March figures showing another month of double-digit increase compared to last year, mainly driven by increased capacity and e-commerce demand.

The Hong Kong-based carrier carried 121,776 tonnes of cargo last month, an increase of 25.3% compared with March 2022, when cargo capacity was significantly reduced due to stricter aircrew quarantine measures.

Cargo volumes are also up month-on-month as Cathay Pacific transported 103,932 tonnes of cargo in February.

The month's cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 102.5% year-on-year, while the cargo load factor decreased by 14.6 percentage points to 66.9%.

Cathay Pacific reported that capacity — measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) — increased by 146.7% year-on-year.

Weak demand for global air freight

"For our cargo business, tonnage carried in March saw double-digit growth of 17% over February as volumes recovered after the Lunar New Year holiday, and we operated an enhanced freighter schedule to capture expected demand," said Lavinia Lau, chief customer and commercial officer.

"E-commerce shipments from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland were the key drivers of growth; however, other regions remained relatively flat, reflecting the ongoing weaker demand for global airfreight," she added.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific reported that in the first three months of 2023, the tonnage increased by 35.6% against a 178.4% increase in capacity and a 128.1% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2022.

Looking to April, the Hong Kong flag carrier expects demand to be tempered due to the impact of several holidays in both Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.

"On the cargo side, in April we expect that the Ching Ming Festival, Easter and Ramadan will dampen market demand," Lau said.

The Cathay chief customer and commercial officer noted that the airline will adjust its freighter capacity "in an agile manner" to reflect the demand picture, "which remains variable but overall softer than prior periods."

"We are nevertheless continuing to expand market coverage for our customers, as the cargo belly space and network offered by our widebody passenger fleet continues to grow," Lau added.

She also noted that the carrier "continued to enhance" its cargo proposition in March, with the launch of Cathay Mail solution — the refreshed suite of digitised tools allows greater transparency for post office customers, enabling package-level track-and-trace visibility and improved efficiencies in mail capacity planning and administrative handling, as they compete in the express e-commerce segment.

The Cathay Pacific executive also welcomed the recent naming of Hong Kong International Airport as the world's busiest cargo hub in 2022.

"Earlier this month, Hong Kong International Airport was once again named the busiest cargo airport in the world in 2022. As the city's home carrier, we worked hard to ensure the movement of important cargo was maintained despite significant challenges and operational constraints last year. We are very proud to have contributed to this achievement and remain committed to rebuilding the Hong Kong international aviation hub to surpass pre-pandemic levels of airfreight tonnage ahead," Lau said.