Cathay carried 103,092 tonnes of cargo in November, approximately 6 per cent less than in October, while cargo flight capacity was down about 2 per cent in November compared with the previous month. Overall, the airline operated about 64 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity levels.

"Production activities in the Chinese Mainland and trade flows remained constrained. While we did witness a mild uptick in e-commerce movements into the Americas around the Black Friday shopping period, a similar surge on regional lanes was more short-lived," Mr Lam said.

November's cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 27.8 per cent year on year, and were down 38 per cent compared with November 2019. The cargo load factor decreased by 15.6 percentage points to 66.9 per cent, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), decreased by 11 per cent year on year, and was down by 36.4 per cent versus November 2019.

In the first 11 months of 2022, the tonnage decreased by 12.6 per cent against a 20.7 per cent decrease in capacity and a 30.6 per cent decrease in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2021.

Commenting of the outlook for cargo, Mr Lam pointed out that the expanding passenger travel network will provide our cargo customers with more destinations and greater frequencies to choose from as well.

"However, we expect headwinds in the air cargo market to continue in the short term until supply chains in the Chinese Mainland become more stable and inventory levels in key consumer markets reduce."

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 526,827 passengers last month, an increase of 652.1 per cent compared with November 2021, but a 79.9 per cent decrease compared with the pre-pandemic level in November 2019.