HONG KONG, 29 January 2024: Cathay Pacific surpassed the milestone of carrying more than 20 million passengers during 2023, which compares with about 3 million passengers carried for the whole of 2022.
The airline released the latest traffic figures for December 2023 and also the full year of 2023 for the Cathay Group, comprising Cathay Pacific and HK Express,
Cathay Pacific carried 1,779,457 passengers in December 2023, an increase of 122.1% compared with December 2022. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 89.3% year-on-year. Passenger load factor decreased by two percentage points to 81.2%, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 94% year-on-year.
In the entire year of 2023, passengers carried increased by 541.5% against a 326.8% increase in ASKs and a 396.8% increase in RPKs, compared with 2022.
Chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “December traditionally marks the peak travel season, and we saw many customers take advantage of the extended Christmas holiday to travel, resulting in strong demand for travel services throughout the month. There was an overwhelming demand for travel to short-haul leisure destinations, with Japan and Southeast Asia being especially popular.
“We saw good demand for travel from the United States and the Southwest Pacific in the first half of December. The demand for travel from the United Kingdom was particularly strong as it coincided with the peak period for international students returning to Hong Kong. Furthermore, our seasonal Christchurch service, which resumed last month, was popular among Hong Kong customers and stimulated transit traffic to and from the Philippines and the United Kingdom.”
Outlook
“As a Group, we made significant progress in our rebuild journey in 2023. As we look ahead to 2024, we remain committed to working towards fully rebuilding our flights to deliver the high-quality and reliable services that Hong Kong deserves. Despite the ongoing challenges affecting the entire global aviation industry, we are prepared to face them, as always, with determination.
“The Lunar New Year is approaching, and this will mark another peak travel period when people celebrate and visit loved ones. We anticipate strong demand from late January until the Lunar New Year holiday ends. We are delighted to announce that our popular Barcelona service will resume in June, and we look forward to welcoming customers onboard.”
