HONG KONG, 23 October 2023: Travel sentiment remains strong as Cathay Pacific gears up for the next holiday wave, according to the airline’s latest traffic figures for September 2023, released at the weekend.
Cathay Pacific carried 1,542,144 passengers last month, an increase of 480.1% compared with September 2022. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 316% year-on-year. Passenger load factor increased by 11.2 percentage points to 83.7%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 260.4% year on year. In the first nine months of 2023, passengers carried increased by 1,099% against a 546.7% increase in capacity and a 736.8% increase in RPKs, as compared with the same period for 2022.
The airline carried 119,963 tonnes of cargo last month, an increase of 15.3% compared with September 2022. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 16.9% year-on-year. The cargo load factor decreased by 5.3 percentage points to 61.1%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), increased by 26.9% year on year. In the first nine months of 2023, the tonnage increased by 20.1% against a 77.7% increase in capacity and a 53.8% increase in RFTKs, compared to the same period for 2022.
Regarding the results, chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “As we exited the busy peak summer months for passenger travel, we saw increased student traffic in September ahead of the start of the new school year, particularly in the UK. To cater for the strong demand, we increased the frequency of our flights between Hong Kong and the UK in September, with our services from Hong Kong achieving load factors of 98%.
“In addition to student traffic, there was a notable increase in outbound passenger travel from Hong Kong during the last week of September, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays. We also saw strong demand from the Greater Bay Area and the rest of the Chinese Mainland for travel to Hong Kong and destinations beyond the holiday period.
“Meanwhile, demand for Hangzhou was elevated with the Asian Games. Cathay Pacific was proud to carry many athletes, spectators and officials to attend this incredible sporting occasion. It has also been great to see more conferences and exhibitions in Hong Kong, stimulating demand for premium cabins as we near the traditional business travel peak.
Cargo
“On the cargo side, September marked the start of the traditional peak period, and demand strengthened across most of the network compared with the previous month. Capacity also grew as passenger services were added on some key cargo routes.
“E-commerce remained a bright spot, particularly on the Americas trade lanes. Our mail business continued gaining momentum, with several post offices worldwide adopting our newly launched Cathay Mail solution to improve customer experience.
Outlook
“Looking ahead at the coming months, on the travel side, we will continue to increase capacity as much as is feasible to provide more choice and flexibility for our customers. Earlier this month, we resumed our Chicago passenger service, which received a very encouraging response from our customers. With the next holiday period not until Christmas, we will remain agile to capture demand, including connecting traffic via the Hong Kong hub.
“For cargo, loads are expected to build over the next two months, reflecting the year-end demand, and we have been adding freighter capacity on our transpacific routes to cater for this. Our intermodal sea-air feeder services from Dongguan will continue to grow, providing customers a cost-effective option to move freight from the Greater Bay Area to the Hong Kong hub and onto our global network.”
The Cathay Group, on 11 October 2023, announced that shareholder approval had been granted to proceed with a proposed capital reduction, which, when completed, will facilitate the Group to buy back 50% – HK$9.75 billion – of the preference shares held by the Hong Kong SAR Government before the end of this year, and the remaining 50% by the end of July 2024, subject to market conditions and the Group’s business operations at the relevant time.
