Cathay Pacific Airways together with sister carrier Dragonair carried 8.4 per cent more cargo year on year in November to 153,572 tonnes, the carrier announced in its monthly statement. The cargo and mail load factor was 71.6 per cent, a drop of 5.2 percentage points, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 21.6 per cent. For the year to date, tonnage has grown by 18.7 per cent and cargo/mail tonne kilometres were up by 23.9 per cent compared to a capacity increase of 14.9 per cent. The two airlines carried 2,181,995 passengers in November - up 8.7 per cent on the same month in 2009. The passenger load factor was 80.5 per cent, down 1.5 percentage points, while capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 11.2 per cent. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried is up 11.0 per cent compared to an ASK rise of 4.6 per cent. Said Cathay Revenue chief Tom Owen said:"Demand held up well across the network in November. There was a drop in the Economy Class load factor compared to the same month in 2009, as a result of the significant increase in capacity over the same period and the strengthening base we saw in November 2009. The Hong Kong market remained robust, and we continued to see good passenger demand on our China routes and within the region. Premium demand saw an increase in revenue quality and volumes across most routes when compared to the same period in 2009." Said Cathay chief James Woodrow: "The cargo peak season continued throughout November with good demand and yields out of Hong Kong on all key routes. The load factor remained high, despite a big increase in capacity year on year, helped by good support from our contract agent partners. We operated according to our full freighter schedule and continued to mount extra sectors and charters where possible in line with market demand." (schednet)