Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for December 2023, reporting that a total of 128,546 tonnes of cargo was carried.

The airline states that’s an increase of 20.7% compared with December 2022.

The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) also increased 14.1% year on year.

The airline also reports that the cargo load factor decreased by 6.5 percentage points to 60.8%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 26.3% year on year.

In the full year of 2023, the tonnage increased by 19.6% against a 59.7% increase in AFTKs and a 40.3% increase in RFTKs, as compared with 2022.

“Our cargo business performed well in December, and finished on a high, primarily driven by the strong year-end demand for e-commerce products,” Cathay Pacific said in a press release.

“Additionally, there was increased demand for perishable goods for the holiday season. December also saw a pickup in our Live Animal solutions with significant numbers of racehorses being moved across our network in support of the Hong Kong international race events.”

“In total, we carried almost 1.4 million tonnes of air cargo throughout 2023, compared with about 1.2 million tonnes in 2022, which was an encouraging result,” the airline said.

It was also a strong month for the airline’s passenger traffic, with Cathay Pacific reporting it carried a total of 1,779,457 passengers in December 2023, an increase of 122.1% compared with December 2022.

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