Cathay/Dragonair volume drops 3.1% in August

Hong Kong-based sister airlines Cathay Pacific and Dragonair reported a 3.1 percent drop in cargo volume in August compared to the same month in 2007.

The two airlines carried 140,589 tons of cargo and mail in August. Capacity for the month, measured in available cargo/mail ton kilometers, fell 5.4 percent while the cargo and mail load factor rose 0.6 percentage points to 65.9 percent. For the year to date, the amount of freight carried has risen 5.3 percent compared to a capacity climb of 4.6 percent.

There was a significant reduction in our freighter capacity in August as we reduced services to offset the impact of high fuel prices, said Titus Diu, Cathay Pacific's general manager cargo sales and marketing, in a statement. Demand during August was certainly affected by the Olympics in Beijing, with a drop in exports out of China around the Games period. On the plus side, our second Boeing 747-400ERF 'Extended Range Freighter is now in service and helping to improve efficiency on our important North American trunk routes.

Source: American Shipper