Cargolux International Airlines posted a profit of $3 million in 2014 and handled 828,658 tonnes of cargo, up 9.9 per cent on 2013, the carrier revealed on Wednesday 29 April.

The airline’s revenues in 2014 grew by 10.1 per cent to $2 billion. Freight tonne kilometres grew by 11.2 per cent to 6,364,260. The load factor reached 66.9 per cent.

The carrier says while the industry continued to suffer from overcapacity and noticeable pressure on yields, it benefitted from a very strong last quarter in 2014. It adds that combined with a rapidly declining oil price, it achieved record levels of block hours and tonnages while enjoying a welcome increase in yields.

Cargolux says the results were achieved despite it reducing its declared value for its Boeing 747-400 fleet by $40 million. The airline also claims its results had faired well despite the impact of undisclosed anti-trust legal actions that have been raised against it.

Cargolux president and chief executive officer, Dirk Reich, says: “Against prevailing economic difficulties, low yields and severe competition, I am proud to say that Cargolux has achieved a solid result in 2014.

“During the last quarter especially, we registered record tonnages and revenues and flew an unprecedented number of block hours.”

The carrier signed an agreement in 2014 to develop Zhengzhou (China) as a cargo hub. Flights commenced in June. In 2014, the airline carried 15,000 tonnes of cargo between Luxembourg and Zhengzhou.