Cargo traffic improves for Cathay, declines for HKIA

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Passenger and cargo traffic both increased for the Cathay Pacific group in March 2018, while Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) reported strong passenger numbers but leaner cargo during the same month.

Combined Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic figures for the month show an increase in both the number of passengers carried and cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2017, according to Cathay Pacific Group.

The Hong Kong-based sister airlines carried a total of 3.03 million passengers last month, an increase of 6.4% compared to March 2017. The passenger load factor increased 2.4 percentage points to 85.2%, while capacity increased by 4.1%.

In the first three months of 2018, the number of passenger carried grew by 3.0% while capacity increased by 3.8%.

The two airlines carried 189,911 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 4.8% year-on-year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 0.4 percentage points to 70.7%. Capacity was up by 4.4% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometers (RTKs) increased by 4.9%.

In the first three months of 2018, the tonnage rose by 8.2% against a 4.9% increase in capacity and a 7.7% increase in RTKs.

“Our frontend performance continued to be robust in March. Backend demand from major sales areas, including Hong Kong, was boosted by the Easter holiday falling towards the end of the period… Strong traffic into and out of Hong Kong and favourable currency trends contributed to overall yield improvements,” Cathay Pacific director for commercial and cargo Ronald Lam said.

“Meanwhile, cargo revenue continued to track in line with our expectations. We saw a high load factor across the network and improved yield. The pick-up in demand from Hong Kong and mainland China post-Chinese New Year was slower than expected, but transhipments from the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia proved strong.”

HKIA cargo slows

On the other hand, while HKIA recorded strong growth in passenger volume in March, cargo throughput decreased by 2.5% to 422,000 tonnes.

Passenger volume experienced a strong growth in late March, as the airport reported 6.39 million passengers with a year-on-year surge of 8.5%, a result from the Easter travel peak as compared to 2017.

While imports recorded a 13% growth in March, the decline in cargo throughput was mainly attributed to the 12% year-on-year drop in exports. Among the key trading regions, South Korea and Europe registered the most significant drop during the month.

Over the first three months of the year, HKIA handled 18.3 million passengers and 1.15 million tonnes of cargo, representing year-on-year increases of 4.4% and 4.2%, respectively. On a rolling 12-month basis, HKIA handled 5 million tonnes of cargo with a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. Passenger throughput increased 4.5% to 73.6 million.

Photo: Ralf Roletschek