Cathay Pacific is flying high, especially when you look at their recent passenger and cargo numbers. In August 2023 alone, the airline carried nearly 1.8 million passengers. That’s a whopping 603% increase compared to the same month last year. And it’s not just about passengers; their cargo business is also booming.
A Closer Look at the Numbers
Let’s break down some of the key figures. The airline’s revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) went up by 342.8% year on year in August. The passenger load factor, which is a measure of how full the flights are, jumped to 88%, up by 19.4 percentage points. When it comes to capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), there was a 244.9% increase year on year.
Cathay Pacific also carried 116,919 tonnes of cargo in August, marking an 11.5% increase compared to August 2022. The cargo revenue tonne kilometers (RFTKs) rose by 13.2% year on year. However, the cargo load factor dipped a bit to 58.8%, even as capacity in available cargo tonne kilometers (AFTKs) increased by 29% year on year.
What’s Driving the Demand?
Lavinia Lau, the Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, shed some light on what’s fueling this growth. She mentioned that travel demand stayed strong through August, which is part of the traditional peak summer season. The airline even increased flight frequencies to meet this demand. New flights to Johannesburg got a warm welcome, especially from business and leisure travelers heading to Hong Kong and other destinations.
In the first half of August, there was a surge in leisure travel from Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to short-haul destinations. By mid-August, the Obon holiday in Japan led to more people traveling from Japan to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia and Europe. Towards the end of the month, student travel to Canada, the US, and the UK picked up, thanks to the new school year starting.
Lau also touched on the cargo side of things. E-commerce is the shining star here, with tonnage continuing to grow. She also mentioned that they’re gearing up for the traditional peak period starting in September, which includes big consumer sales events like ‘Singles’ Day’ in China and ‘Black Friday’ in other markets.
Looking ahead, Cathay Pacific plans to add more flights, especially to and from the Chinese Mainland. They’re currently operating about 170 return flights per week to 16 airports in 15 cities. Plus, they’re bringing back services to Colombo and Chennai in February 2024.
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