In the first half of this year, cargo and mail carried by China Southern, measured in revenue tonne kilometers (RTKs), was up 10.74 percent over 2014, rising from 2.32 billion RTKs last year to 2.57 billion RTKs for the first six months of this year.
The traffic volume carried in freighters for China Southern was 143,500 tonnes in the first half, while belly hold cargo accounted for 569,100 tonnes, resulting in a 10.1 percent increase over 2014’s first half. Of that figure, belly freight was up 27.6 percent, year-over-year, compared to 2014, the airline said. All told, the airline’s network carried 23.5 percent more freight in the first half of 2015, y-o-y.
The good news continued into the second half of the year, with the announcement that the carrier will begin freighter service later this month that will link Guangzhou with Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, representing the first freighter flights China Southern has ever scheduled to Vietnam.
In late August, The China Times reported that China Southern will begin its Guangzhou-Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi-Guangzhou runs Sept. 24, which will take place four times a week, using 747F aircraft. With a maximum payload of 100 tonnes, the freighters will mostly carry shoes, clothing, fruit and vegetables. The airline said it improved its international mail delivery service, consolidating its cooperation with overseas post offices during the first six months of 2015. It also launched a service for booking cargo, which increased the revenue from bulky freight. Additionally, the express cargo volume China Southern carried via its partnership with SF Express grew by 7 percent, year-over-year. Traffic volume and revenue of Southern China Express grew by 43 percent and 30 percent respectively in the first half of 2015, y-o-y.
China Southern said it is striving to make Guangzhou into a cargo hub while strengthening cooperation with major customers to keep the freighter fleet stable. It also plans to proactively develop temperature controlled, time-limited and other high-end cargo services.