Singapore, 13 May (Argus) — Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific experienced a drop in passenger traffic in April, as disruptions caused by Iceland's volcanic ash cloud cut into passenger volumes.
Passenger numbers for Cathay Pacific and its affiliate Dragonair totalled 2.16mn in April, down 3.6pc from a year earlier. The month's passenger load factor was 83.9pc, rising 1.3 percentage points with April capacity 5.8pc lower.
But cargo traffic during April bucked the trend. Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 152,808t of cargo and mail in April, up by 24.1pc from the previous year. The sector's load factor stood at 79.3pc, up by 13.6 percentage points from last year even as capacity rose by 6.4pc.
"Traffic on our key European routes was hit by the volcanic ash cloud disruptions, but we are able to redeploy the capacity to good effect on routes to India, the Middle East and North America,” said James Woodrow, Cathay Pacific's cargo general manager for China and Hong Kong.
But the lingering problems from the ash cloud, which has continued to close some European airspace, have weighed on the Asia-Pacific jet fuel market. This is reflected in the regrade, which measures the spread between jet-kerosine and gasoil, now hovering in negative territory at -$0.15/bl against $0.35/bl at the start of May.
Send comments to feedback@argusmedia.com
mw/rjd 2.1
If you would like to review other ArgusMedia.com content options, request more information about Argus' energy news, data and analysis services.
Copyright © 2010 Argus Media Ltd - www.ArgusMedia.com - All rights reserved.
