Cargo shines amid passenger slump

CARGO VOLUMES kept Cathay Pacific Airways flying high last year in the face of the SARS-induced passenger fall-off in the first half of the year.
According to latest statistics, demand for the airline’s cargo services remained strong throughout the year. In 2003, the airline carried a record 874724 tonnes of freight, up 2.8% on 2002. The Group’s cargo revenue increased 5.6% over 2002.
The airline saw an 18% year-on-year decline in the number of passengers carried to ten million, more than six million of whom flew in the second half of the year.