Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for January that continued to reflect the airline's "substantial capacity reductions" in response to significantly reduced demand as well as travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in place in Hong Kong and other markets amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hong Kong-based carrier said it transported 74,242 tonnes of cargo last month, a decrease of 31.8% compared to January 2021, and a 55.5% decrease compared with the same period in 2019.
The month's cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 64.4% year-on-year, and were down 73.6% compared to January 2019 while cargo load factor also decreased by 2.8 percentage points to 76.6%.
Meanwhile, capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 63.1% year-on-year, and was down by 78.8% compared to the same period in 2019.
"In light of the additional quarantine measures imposed on Hong Kong-based aircrew, our cargo flight capacity in January reduced by about 69% compared with December 2021, to about 21% of pre-COVID-19 levels," said Ronald Lam, chief customer and commercial officer at Cathay Pacific.
He noted that this reduction was "felt most acutely" on Cathay's long-haul frequencies, where in the first week of January the airline had to cancel all such services for seven days while reviewing our crew rostering arrangements.
"Since then, we have only been able to mount limited freighter flights to the Americas, while the shipment of goods to Europe, the Middle East and Southwest Pacific is being provided by passenger aircraft carrying only cargo," Lam added.
Nonetheless, the Cathay executive noted that Cathay's regional operations remained intact and, the carrier is adding focus on opportunities in the Chinese Mainland and the region.
"This resulted in increased cargo capacity for services to destinations in Northeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent where there was good demand prior to the Lunar New Year holidays," he said.
Cargo capacity to remain tight
Moving forward, Cathay Pacific noted that it expects cargo capacity to remain restricted as Hong Kong's quarantine measures for air crew are seen to remain in place.
"Regarding cargo, demand during the first half of February was affected by the reduced production over the Lunar New Year holiday period, though it is expected to progressively improve during the second half of the month. In light of the ongoing strict crew quarantine requirements, we will continue to operate a reduced schedule for our long-haul cargo operations, with services to Europe and the Middle East continuing to be served by passenger aircraft carrying cargo only, while trans-Pacific frequencies will remain similar to January," Lam said.
"However, we have managed to restore some freighter frequencies to the Southwest Pacific and we will continue to maximise opportunities provided by our regional markets."
"Overall, our cargo flight capacity is likely to remain less than one-third of pre-COVID-19 levels in the first quarter," the Cathay executive added.
Cathay Pacific said as part of its efforts to support Hong Kong's fight against Covid-19, it has shipped more than five million Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits (190 tonnes) from the Chinese Mainland this week, with more to come aside from other critical supplies like the vaccines.
Cathay carried a total of 24,699 passengers during the same month, a decrease of 18.8% compared to January 2021, and a 99.2% decrease compared to the pre-pandemic level in January 2019 as Lam described the start of 2022 as a "very difficult start" with the accelerated spread of the Omicron variant and the further tightening of travel and operational restrictions, notably stricter quarantine requirements for Hong Kong-based aircrew.