It’s been a bumpy ride for Cargolux over the last 12 months of personnel changes, labor strife and legal problems, but the Luxembourg-based carrier managed to end 2014 on a high note with a modest net profit of US$3 million. Declining oil prices in the second half of the year worked in the carrier’s favor, allowing it to achieve record levels of block hours, tonnages and increased yields.
The net profit also comes despite a $40 million 747-400 fleet impairment charge and provisions for possible payouts as a result of the antitrust legal actions that have been raised against the airlines.
According to IATA statistics, Cargolux ranked seventh among the world’s cargo carriers at the end of 2014 and is the largest all-cargo airline in Europe, with a global market share of 3.7 percent. In 2014, the company carried more than 828,600 tonnes of freight, 9.9 percent more than in 2013. Revenues grew by 10.1 percent to $ 2.098 billion. Freight tonne kilometers grew by 11.2 percent to about 6.36 million and the load factor reached 66.9 percent.
At the end of 2014, the airline operated eleven 747-8 freighters and eleven 747-400 freighters, the largest fleet in its history. This fleet flew a record number of more than 95,500 block hours on 19,195 network sectors.