Cathay, Dragonair freight rises 5.1% in September

Cathay, Dragonair freight rises 5.1% in September Cathay Pacific and subsidiary airline Dragonair flew a combined 150,375 tons of freight in September, a 5.1 percent year-on-year rise.
   The Hong Kong airlines’ cargo rise was behind an 8.8 percent capacity increase for the month. The cargo and mail load factor fell 2.9 percentage points to 69.1 percent.
   For the year to date, the combined cargo tonnage rose 2.5 percent to 1.19 million tons against a capacity rise of 6.8 percent. After nine months, the two airlines’ cumulative cargo and mail load factor was down 2.9 percentage points to 65.9 percent.
   'We were pleased to see a healthy tonnage growth in September, largely driven by continued strong demand out of mainland China. Northeast Asia remained a problem area with yields still under considerable pressure. We expect to see a pickup in overall demand as the cargo market enters its traditional peak period in the second half of October,' said Ron Mathison, Cathay Pacific’s director and general manager cargo.