Decline in air freight could be long-term, warns Cathay
Hong Kong carrier cautious about recovery in 2010
Last year’s decline in the air freight market could be a long-term, rather than “cyclical”, problem, despite the improvement it has seen in recent months, Cathay Pacific said today.
Revealing its full-year results for 2009, the Hong Kong-based airline said: “While we welcomed the improvement in business in the latter part of 2009, we remain cautious about the prospects for 2010.
“Revenues and yields remain below levels experienced prior to the recent downturn, and there are concerns that the adverse changes we have seen in the pattern of passenger and freight demand could be structural rather than cyclical.
“In addition, the cost of fuel, which rose steadily from the middle of 2009, remains stubbornly high and threatens to undermine profitability.”
However, the carrier saw a strong start to 2010, with cargo volumes up 31% in January, leading general manager for cargo sales and marketing Titus Diu to say: “After a very strong end to 2009, we were pleased to see robust demand continue into the new year.
“Direct comparisons with 2009 are distorted by the fact that our traffic volumes were being severely affected by the economic slump earlier last year.
“However, the fact that we had roughly the same capacity as the previous January, but an almost 16-point increase in load factor, shows the extent to which traffic has bounced back.”
Cargo revenue for Cathay Pacific Group fell by 29.9% in 2009 to HK$17.25bn (US$2.22bn), while the amount of freight carried for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair dropped by 7.1% to 1.53m tonnes.
Cargo capacity was reduced by 13.1%. and this was reflected in a load factor of 70.8%, compared with 65.9% in 2008.
The second half of last year was stronger, with yield increasing in October, albeit from a very low base, and rising consistently.
Cargo yield for the year – revenue per tonne km – fell by 26.8% to HK$1.86.
Revealing its full-year results for 2009, the Hong Kong-based airline said: “While we welcomed the improvement in business in the latter part of 2009, we remain cautious about the prospects for 2010.
“Revenues and yields remain below levels experienced prior to the recent downturn, and there are concerns that the adverse changes we have seen in the pattern of passenger and freight demand could be structural rather than cyclical.
“In addition, the cost of fuel, which rose steadily from the middle of 2009, remains stubbornly high and threatens to undermine profitability.”
However, the carrier saw a strong start to 2010, with cargo volumes up 31% in January, leading general manager for cargo sales and marketing Titus Diu to say: “After a very strong end to 2009, we were pleased to see robust demand continue into the new year.
“Direct comparisons with 2009 are distorted by the fact that our traffic volumes were being severely affected by the economic slump earlier last year.
“However, the fact that we had roughly the same capacity as the previous January, but an almost 16-point increase in load factor, shows the extent to which traffic has bounced back.”
Cargo revenue for Cathay Pacific Group fell by 29.9% in 2009 to HK$17.25bn (US$2.22bn), while the amount of freight carried for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair dropped by 7.1% to 1.53m tonnes.
Cargo capacity was reduced by 13.1%. and this was reflected in a load factor of 70.8%, compared with 65.9% in 2008.
The second half of last year was stronger, with yield increasing in October, albeit from a very low base, and rising consistently.
Cargo yield for the year – revenue per tonne km – fell by 26.8% to HK$1.86.
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