Another interesting collection of replies.

My question was not why the passengers had to wait for the cargo to be offloaded as I am aware of the possible weight and balance issues.

The question was that this loading appeared to have been done on purpose and the captain stated the cargo had to be offloaded first without any further explanation as to what or why. There are of course possible explanations of why this loading had happened which were unavoidable but none were stated during the multiple announcements while we were waiting.

I find it hard to conclude anything other than the cargo was loaded at the back of the aircraft because it was commercially valuable and that choice was made knowing it would mean all the passengers had to wait to get off the aircraft on arrival.

If indeed this is true I find this a surprising decision on what appears to me to be an airline primarily offering a passenger service.