Cathay operates close to full freighter schedule in Nov-2012, market outlook uncertain
Cathay Pacific GM Cargo Sales Marketing James Woodrow, after reporting that for the third consecutive month, cargo and mail tonnage increased year-on-year in Nov-2012, commented (13-Dec-2012): "The uptick in demand that began in late September continued through November, again driven by significant shipments of hi-tech consumer products out of key manufacturing centres such as Western/Central China and Vietnam. We operated close to a full freighter schedule throughout the month and mounted a number of charter flights and extra sectors. While we welcome the recent upturn in demand, we have not seen the kind of sustained year-end peak we saw in previous years and the market outlook continues to be uncertain, particularly from Asia to Europe." Despite the increased tonnage, Cathay noted that the Nov-2012 volumes was "some way short of the tonnage achieved in November 2010". The two airlines carried 140,824 tonnes of cargo and mail in Nov-2012, a 6.3% year-on-year increase. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 1.4ppts to 63.9%. Capacity increased by 5.1% while traffic increased 2.8%. For the year to date, tonnage has declined by 6.1% against a capacity drop of 3.5%.