CATHAY Pacific and Dragonair carried 147,450 tonnes of cargo and mail in November, an increase of 4.7 per cent compared to same period 2012. The two airlines upped passenger volumes slightly more at an increase year-on-year of 4.9 per cent to 2,476,776 passengers.

The cargo and mail load factor fell by 0.2 percentage points to 63.7 per cent. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, increased by 8.5 per cent while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres flown were up by 8.1 per cent. For the year to date, tonnage has fallen by 1.1 per cent while capacity has shown a 1.7 per cent increase.

Cathay Pacific general manager cargo Mark Sutch said the increase in volumes that began in late October continued to gain momentum in November supported by increased capacity on key long-haul routes.

"The surge in traffic was driven by hi-tech consumer goods being shipped out Mainland China and other major manufacturing centres in Asia. Demand was especially robust on transpacific routes and the momentum was maintained through to the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of the month," said Mr Sutch.

The passenger load factor was up 2.1 percentage points to 81.3 per cent, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 3.1 per cent. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried is up 3.3 per cent against a capacity drop of 2.3 per cent.