Cathay Pacific’s cargo up 12% in August

Cathay Pacific’s cargo up 12% in August Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways and subsidiary Dragonair carried a combined 142,597 tons of cargo in August, a 12.1 percent rise compared to August 2006.
   The two airlines’ monthly cargo load factor fell 1.7 percentage points year-on-year to 65.3 percent while capacity, measured in available cargo and mail ton kilometers, increased 14.1 percent.
   For the year to date, the combined cargo tonnage rose 1.7 percent to 1.03 million tons against a capacity rise of 6.5 percent.
   “The cargo market showed signs of becoming more buoyant in August, though our tonnage growth still lagged behind growth in capacity,” said Ron Mathison, Cathay Pacific’s director and general manager cargo.
   “Demand out of mainland China continued strong, but yield remained under pressure on Northeast Asian routes. We recently added another flight each week to Dallas and Atlanta, turning it into a daily service, due to high demand on this comparatively new route.”