Cathay Pacific’s July cargo up 4%

Cathay Pacific’s July cargo up 4% Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways and subsidiary Dragonair carried 132,947 tons of cargo in July, a 4.1 percent rise compared to July 2006.
   The two airlines’ monthly cargo load factor fell 3.1 percentage points year-on-year to 66.1 percent while capacity, measured in available cargo and mail ton kilometers, increased 10 percent.
   For the year to date, the combined cargo tonnage rose 0.2 percent to 890,522 tons compared to a capacity rise of 5.4 percent.
   “There has been a continuing shift to ocean freight and yield is under pressure particularly on our N.E. Asian routes,” said Ron Mathison, Cathay Pacific’s director and general manager cargo. “However, demand out of Mainland China remains very strong and we will add more long-haul capacity to India, United States and Europe in the second half, which should boost tonnage growth.'