Warning signals in Cathay Pacific's flat cargo traffic
Volume remains flat as market continues downward shift on weak global economy
Cargo volume at Cathay Pacific Airways remained flat last month as the global market continues a worrying downward trend.
Combined traffic figures for Cathay and its subsidiary Dragonair released yesterday showed a 2.2 per cent year-on-year drop in cargo load factors for the month, as cargo volume grew 0.5 per cent while capacity increased 5.9 per cent.
"Growth in the cargo markets has been softening … and we saw a continuation of this trend in June," said Mark Sutch, Cathay's general manager for cargo sales and marketing.
The International Air Transport Association said on July 1 air cargo growth had "undoubtedly come off the boil" due to a weak global economy.
Carriers in the Asia-Pacific experienced slow growth as a result of poor import-export performance, with trade volumes for emerging markets in Asia down 10 per cent at the end of the first quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of last year, Iata said.
Sutch said Cathay had "sporadic" demand and "strong competition" in mainland China, the largest source market.