After several months of lackluster cargo performance from Asian carriers, China Southern Airlines provided a shot in the arm in the form of its July numbers. China Southern’s cargo traffic for the month, measured in FTKs, was up 9.16 percent, year-over-year. Meanwhile, ATKs increased 4.7 percent (less than FTKs) bucking global trends of growing capacity over freight. The airline’s freight load factor was up 2.16 percentage points to 52.86 percent. Passenger transport volume (measured by RPKs) were up 6.29 percent, y-o-y.
The carrier is moving to meet demand by growing its fleet. Last month, the airline took delivery of four new 737-800s, one 777-300 and three A321s, which were added to its total fleet of 692 aircraft, as of July 31.
China Southern Airlines also entered a code-share agreement last month with Italian carrier Alitalia. The routes covered under the agreement include Athens, Beijing, Bologna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Florence, Santiago de Chile and Turin. The China-based carrier also announced thrice-weekly nonstop flights between mainland China and Adelaide, Australia.
Source: aircargoworld