Cathay Pacific’s passenger numbers up 4.7% in May

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 4146

Cathay Pacific’s and Cathay Dragon’s combined traffic figures for May 2019 show an increase in the number of passengers carried and a drop in cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2018.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 2,961,491 passengers last month – an increase of 4.7% compared to May 2018. The passenger load factor increased 0.9 percentage points to 82.9%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 6.6%. In the first five months of 2019, the number of passengers carried grew by 4.1% while capacity increased by 6.5%.

Cathay Pacific Director Commercial and Cargo Ronald Lam said, “Overall passenger demand was strong in May. Growth in travel volume outpaced increases to capacity, though yield remained under pressure due to intense competition. Japan in particular generated strong revenue growth, capitalising on the long Golden Week holiday during the first half of May. However, whilst we have seen solid improvement in the first half driven by a good first quarter, our passenger revenue outlook for the coming few months has shown signs of slowdown. With declining travel demand in the market, especially to and from our long-haul destinations, overall yield has come under tremendous pressure.”

The two airlines carried 168,270 tons of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 3.9% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 4.7 percentage points to 63.9%. Capacity, measured in available freight ton kilometres (AFTKs), was up by 4.6% while cargo and mail revenue freight ton kilometres (RFTKs) dropped by 2.6%. In the first five months of 2019, the tonnage fell by 5.0% against a 1.0% increase in capacity and a 5.3% decrease in RFTKs.

“Our cargo business continued to be adversely affected by geopolitical tensions and resulting dampened market sentiment. Despite positive capacity growth in May, cargo revenue saw negative growth over last year. Both volume and yield incurred decline year-on-year. We shall remain vigilant in order to best match our capacities to changes in market demand and trade flow,” said Lam.