Lufthansa Cargo saw cargo fall year-on-year (YOY) by 1.4 per cent in May as it failed to fill additional capacity.

The carrier handled 138,000 tonnes, a rise on the 134,000 tonnes in April, but a drop on the 149,000 in March. The May figure was up on the 127,000 in February and the 117,000 in January. The year-to-date (YTD) tonnage for the first five months of the year is up by 0.9 per cent to 672,000 tonnes.

In May, the available cargo tonne kilometres reached 1.1 billion; up YOY by 3.2 per cent and the YTD figures is five billion, up 3.3 per cent on the same period last year. In May, the revenue cargo tonne kilometres were 720 million, a YOY decline of three per cent and the YTD total is 3.4 billion, a YOY fall of 0.3 per cent.

Lufthansa Cargo says the figures for May were solid, but it could not sell its additional capacity in May and adds the cargo load factor dropped YOY by 4.1 percentage points.

The cargo load factor in May was 64.4 per cent and the YTD figure for the first five months of 2015 is 68.1 per cent, 2.4 percentage points down on the same period in 2014.

Lufthansa Cargo operated 786 flights in May, a YOY fall of 4.3 per cent. This year it has run 3,778 flights, a drop of 8.3 per cent on the same period last year.

The Lufthansa Group as a whole handled 157,000 tonnes of cargo in May, a YOY fall of 2.4 per cent. The YTD figure is 766,000, a YOY decline of 0.6 per cent.

Last month, Lufthansa Cargo posted improved first quarter results compared to 2014. The carrier’s cargo revenues rose 5.3 per cent to 614 million euros ($684.3 million).

That month, Lufthansa Cargo chief executive officer, Peter Gerber, told Air Cargo Week that he expects the carrier’s volumes to grow between one and two per cent this year.

The airline also announced in April that it has put back plans for its Lufthansa Cargo Centre Neo (LCC Neo) project by two years, due to finances.