Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for November 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 airline said it carried 135,350 tonnes of cargo last month, an increase of 15.8% compared to November 2020, but a 23.9% decrease compared with the same period in 2019.
The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) rose 15.5% year-on-year, but were down 14% compared to November 2019 and the cargo load factor increased by 4.3 percentage points to 82.6%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was up by 9.5% year-on-year, but was down 28.6% versus November 2019.
Cathay Pacific said in the first 11 months of 2021, the tonnage decreased by 1.1% against a 12.5% drop in capacity and a 2.3% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.
"November delivered an exceptionally strong cargo peak period, as expected. Air cargo demand was consistently robust across our markets," said Ronald Lam, chief customer and commercial officer.
"In addition to underlying air cargo demand remaining strong, we also carried products that would usually be shipped by sea as retailers looked to replenish low inventories to meet customer demand," Lam added.
The official went on to note that inbound demand to its Hong Kong hub was also healthy as seasonal products, such as Beaujolais wine from France to Japan and cherries from the Southern Hemisphere to Asia, were shipped throughout the month.
"To provide more capacity for our customers, we managed to operate approximately 71% of our pre-pandemic cargo capacity compared to November 2019, which was the highest level since the onset of the pandemic. We operated a record-high 1,035 pairs of cargo-only passenger flights," Lam added, noting that Cathay also re-commenced its seasonal cargo service between Hobart and Hong Kong towards the end of November, providing an opportunity for Tasmanian producers to easily access key Asian markets directly.
It also launched its new digital cargo-booking platform, Click & Ship, which is being progressively rolled out across Cathay's network — boasting booking transparency and speed, and allowing users to view prices and capacity, and book cargo shipments with instant confirmation.
Operational challenges remains
"Looking ahead on the cargo side, the strong peak season is expected to last well into December. We expect to operate our full freighter schedule as planned for the rest of the month," Lam said.
"Nevertheless, we continue to face operational challenges and we remain agile in planning our cargo flight schedule," he added.
Meanwhile, for the month, Cathay Pacific carried a total of 70,047 passengers last month, an increase of 85.2% compared to November 2020, but a 97.3% decrease compared to the pre-pandemic level in November 2019.
Lam said the operating environment for Cathay's travel business "continued to be extremely challenging in November."
"Following the reopening of borders in the US and Australia, we increased our flight frequencies to cater for the rise in demand. We also managed to capture pockets of travel demand within Asia and resumed our Madrid and Milan services ... however, the slowdown in traffic, particularly student travel, from both Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland to the UK had an impact on our overall travel volume," Lam added.
Moving ahead, the Cathay spokesperson noted that "significant challenges" is seen to persist as 2021 nears its end.
"As we approach the end of 2021, we continue to face significant challenges, especially for our travel business. The emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant has had an impact on sentiment for travel over the holiday season. Furthermore, our ability to operate flights as planned remains affected in light of the latest travel restrictions, including the Hong Kong SAR Government’s tightening of quarantine requirements for many of our major markets and the subsequent operational constraints," Lam said.
