IAG Cargo says that moving away from a long haul freighter leasing contract is delivering “real commercial value”.
It ran a reduced freighter programme in the second quarter resulting in a 5.1 per cent volume decrease to1,321m cargo tonne kilometres (CTKs) on the second quarter of 2013. However, on a like for like basis, this volume was 7.1 per cent up on a year ago.
IAG Cargo ended its long haul freighter leasing contract with GSS on 30th April. CEO Steve Gunning said: “The strong second quarter performance is the result of us continually adapting our business to meet challenging market conditions. In particular, the decision to end our long haul freighter agreement with GSS and instead purchase capacity on Qatar Airways’ freighter fleet has delivered real commercial value.
“Over the quarter we have use additional line capacity well and have achieved good load factors with notably strong flows from Asia Pacific to North America. Our newest routes to Austin, Texas and Chengdu, China have also performed well with impressive load factors. From a customer experience perspective, we have successfully launched Cargo Connector, our small freight connection service, in two additional US markets during the quarter, a move which has been particularly welcomed by small and medium sized forwarders.
“With the customer-focused changes that we continue to make to the business and a firm handle on costs, we are making good progress towards optimising IAG Cargo’s bottom line contribution and we are looking ahead to the remainder of the year with optimism.”
Commercial revenue for the quarter was €238m versus €271m for the same period last year. On a like for like basis, adjusting prior year figures to reflect a directly comparable freighter operation, commercial revenue remains flat versus last year.
