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HKIA handled 405,000 tonnes of cargo in May, a 7.3% increase compared to the same month last year due to a double-digit growth in imports
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Cathay Pacific airline carried 92,394 tonnes of cargo and mail in May, a decrease of 6.4% compared to May 2020
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Last month, the carrier operated 24% more freighter flights and 18% more cargo-only passenger flights than in April to meet demand from a reasonably buoyant market
Air cargo demand was quite firm in May 2021 for the Hong Kong aviation industry, according to the latest traffic updates from Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).
Airport operator Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) said that last month, HKIA saw continued volume growth, handling 405,000 tonnes of cargo, a 7.3% increase compared to the same month last year.
The growth in cargo volume was mainly attributed to a double-digit growth in imports compared to the same month last year. Cargo to and from Southeast Asia and India experienced the most significant increases during the month.
Over the first five months of the year, cargo throughput at HKIA rose 12.2% to 1.9 million tonnes year-over-year. On a 12-month rolling basis, cargo throughput saw an increase of 1.5% to 4.7 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific traffic data showed the Hong Kong flag carrier carried 92,394 tonnes of cargo and mail in May, a decrease of 6.4% compared to May 2020.
The month’s revenue freight tonne kilometers (RFTKs) fell 16.9% year-on-year.
The cargo and mail load factor increased by 7.5 percentage points to 81%, while capacity was down by 24.5%.
In the first five months of 2021, the tonnage fell by 23.2% against a 37.3% drop in capacity and a 25.5% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.
“The relaxation of crew quarantine requirements in mid-April enabled us to gradually reinstate cargo capacity throughout May, although we are yet to return to our full freighter schedule due to crew rostering lead time,” the airline said in a release.
“Last month, we operated 24% more freighter flights and 18% more cargo-only passenger flights than we did in April, providing more lift to meet demand from a reasonably buoyant air cargo market.”
Among all sales areas, Taiwan stood out last month with considerable export demand. The carrier also experienced strong inbound and outbound demand on services to Asia, the Americas and Europe, which enabled its sales teams to maintain high load factors on these routes. Overall, Cathay Pacific’s cargo load factor in May was 81%.
Cathay Pacific also announced that it has made available to the market Ultra Track, a multidimensional tracking product, with a phased introduction at 25 ports across its network for pharmaceutical, perishable and other special shipments.
The company added that its Cathay Pacific Cargo division supported humanitarian efforts in India by providing additional capacity to fly in essential medical supplies.
“We also allocated space aboard a flight to carry, free of charge, 300,000 COVID-19 testing kits that were donated to India by the Government of Portland in the US.”
Looking ahead, Cathay Pacific said: “Overall cargo demand remains firm. Passenger belly capacity will remain constrained, but with quarantine restrictions easing due to the high uptake of vaccinations by our freighter crews, we will see a further resumption of our freighter frequencies from Hong Kong to various regions in our network.”
Photo by THOMAS K
