The combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for December 2010 showed an increased amount of cargo and mail carried compared to the same month in 2009, though the load factor slipped slightly as a result of increased capacity.
Cargo tonne kilometres were up by 23.2 per cent for the year compared to a capacity increase of 15.2 per cent. The amount of cargo and mail carried by the two airlines in December was up by 12.0 per cent on December 2009. The load factor was down 1.2 per cent.
James Woodrow, general manager cargo sales and marketing, said: “Freight volumes held up well through to the end of 2010 helped by year-end cancellations from our competitors. The load factor was marginally down on the same month in 2009, but there was a significant growth in tonnage and yield held up well.
“We will see some slackening in the market in early January though we anticipate an improvement in the second half of the month prior to the Chinese New Year holiday.”
