Cathay’s cargo up 26.3% in December

Cathay’s cargo up 26.3% in December    Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific transported 104,994 tons of cargo in December, up 26.3 percent from the same month in 2004.
   Cathay’s cargo load factor in December was up 0.3 points to 68.5 percent, reflecting “the availability of greater capacity and directional imbalances of trade.”
   For the full year, the airline carried 1.11 million tons of cargo, up 15 percent from 972,416 tons moved in 2004.
   “We finished the year with a strong December. The carriage of mail also made a significant contribution for the year. High demand for shipments out of Hong Kong continued to contrast sharply in December, as it has all year, with a much weaker inbound market made worse by an abundance of competitor and charter capacity to and from Europe and North America,” said Ron Mathison, Cathay Pacific’s director and general manager cargo.