Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried 151,000 tonnes of cargo and mail in September, an increase of 2.8 per cent compared to the same month last year. Cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) flown increased by 3.4 per cent, as capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 3.0 per cent, leading the cargo and mail load factor to rise by 0.2 percentage points to 62.4 per cent.

In the nine months to the end of September, tonnage rose by 5.6 per cent against a capacity increase of 7.2 per cent and a 7.4 per cent rise in RTKs, year-on-year.

Cathay Pacific general manager for cargo sales and marketing, Mark Sutch, said: “As expected, demand in the cargo markets began to climb as we moved into September, though it was more of a trickle than a surge. Our business received a boost from the movement of new consumer IT products out of the key manufacturing areas of western China, but overall the momentum in the markets remained flat.

“Our main focus was on transpacific routes to the Americas, though demand to and from India continued to remain buoyant. We still expect to see a traditional winter peak and will be operating a full freighter schedule from mid-October through November.”