Cathay, the world's biggest international air-cargo carrier, moved 139,944 tons of cargo and mail last month, taking total volume for the first four months to 562,805 tonnes, down 0.3 percent from the same period last year.
The cargo and mail load factor was down 11 percentage points to 68.3 percent, it said in a statement.
Its key Hong Kong market remained soft in April, while demand out of major manufacturing areas in China weakened further, particularly to Europe, said General Manager, Cargo Sales & Marketing James Woodrow.
The outbound weakness was partly offset by fairly robust demand into Asia, he said in the statement.
"We reduced our freighter services on long-haul trunk routes in line with demand last month and will do the same in May as the markets stay quiet," he said.
Cathay's cargo business is more China-focused and it has recently launched Air ChinaCargo, a joint venture with partner Air China Ltd , and announced the consolidation of their cargo businesses.
