Cathay Cargo anticipates that the air freight market will remain robust during the peak season, with no decline in demand due to the sustained growth of e-commerce and the shift from sea to air transport prompted by the disruption in the Red Sea.

Chris Bowden, head of Cargo Global Partnerships at Cathay, said that the market has not dipped as previously anticipated in mid-summer, traditionally the quieter time of the year.

"It remains strong and not just because of e-commerce out of the Chinese Mainland; we're seeing encouraging demand across the network and within Asia as well," he said, speaking at the airline's Cargo Clan publication.

Bowden noted that the market's robustness is in line with the positive sentiment reflected by the PMI (purchasing managers' index) for export orders and consistent with some improvements in macroeconomic trends.

"Our own analysis is in line with conversations I've had with our partners, that there will be strong demand over the peak season," Cathay's head of Cargo Global Partnerships said.

Bowen said that with a busy peak season predicted, Cathay will tweak its capacity to add more freighter frequencies on "key high-demand lanes."

"We had a large stand at the Air Cargo China exhibition in Shanghai in late June. It was the first time we had exhibited there, and we were very pleased with the response ... Our Director Cargo, Tom Owen, joined the event as well and was met with requests for space and additional capacity," he added.

"Since the event, we have announced flights to Ningbo, which will be served four times a week starting from August 1," Bowen further said.