Cathay sees February cargo decline

   Cathay Pacific and Dragonair experienced a 2.4-percent decrease in February’s cargo activity, year over year, and a 4.4-percent decline in cargo revenue.
   For the month, cargo activity came in at 101,295 kilometers and revenue finished at 548,545 revenue-ton-kilometers. For the year, revenue is up by 0.3 percent, when compared to the same period in 2013, and activity is down by 1.8 percent.
   In February, cargo capacity fell by 1.5 percent, year over year, but is still up by 3.9 percent for the first two months of 2014.
   Mark Sutch, the carrier’s general manager of cargo sales and marketing, blamed the poor numbers on the fall in demand during Chinese New Year celebrations and a slow ramp-up after the holiday.
   “However, by the middle of the month, we began to see an increase in demand on the North America and Europe lanes and also for Iitra-Asia traffic, and by the end of February, we were operating close to a full schedule,” he said in a statement. “The Americas will remain a key focus for our cargo business and March sees two new destinations added to our freighter network — Mexico City and Columbus, Ohio.”
   While Hong Kong International Airport, Cathay’s hub, has not yet released cargo figures for February, the airport did experience a significant boost in activity in January. Year over year, cargo throughput ticked up by 5.3 percent, ending the month at 352,000 tons. During that time, the airport saw a 10-percent increase in exports, with cargo activity to Europe and Southeast Asia showing the biggest gains.