HONG KONG, 22 April 2024: Strong demand for travel from Hong Kong driven by the Easter holiday, supported by a surge in visits to exhibitions and events held in the city delivered a 42.4% increase in passenger traffic in March Cathay Pacific reports.
Cathay Pacific carried 1,883,404 passengers in March 2024, an increase of 42.4% compared with March 2023. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 38.1% year-on-year. Passenger load factor decreased by 6.6 percentage points to 83.8%, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 48.9% year-on-year. In the first three months of 2024, the number of passengers carried increased by 55.7% to a total of 5,401,778, against a 56.4% increase in ASKs and a 47.7% increase in RPKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.
The airline carried 134,551 tonnes of cargo in March 2024, an increase of 10.5% compared with March 2023. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 4.1% year-on-year. The cargo load factor decreased by 4.3 percentage points to 62.7%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 11.2% year-on-year. In the first three months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 11.1% to a total of 356,380 tonnes, against a 15.2% increase in AFTKs and a 6.2% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.
Travel trends
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau commented: “Our travel business performed well in March, with healthy demand across our services both leading up to and during the Easter holiday period. Student traffic from the United Kingdom was particularly strong ahead of Easter, and outbound and return traffic surged over the holidays.
“Demand for premium seats to and from Hong Kong also remained strong. This was driven by the various exhibitions and trade shows that took place in the city in March, most notably the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and Art Basel. We were also pleased to resume our direct flights between Bangkok and Singapore in March, which have been popular with customers.
Cargo
“Cargo demand was stronger in March, with our tonnage up by 26% compared with the previous month and up by 11% compared to March 2023. Cargo demand out of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland picked up quickly after factories re-opened following the Chinese New Year holidays, and we observed an increase in e-commerce and express shipments due to the end-of-quarter rush.
Outlook
“Looking ahead to the Chinese Mainland’s forthcoming Labour Day ‘Golden Week’ holiday period, we are seeing a healthy increase in travel demand from the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong and regional destinations via the Hong Kong hub. We will increase our Chinese Mainland frequencies to around 200 round-trip flights per week as a Group during the Golden Week to cater to this strong demand.
“In terms of cargo, we expect e-commerce demand to remain strong and for overall air cargo demand to be stable on long-haul routes. As the largest cargo operator at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), we congratulate HKIA on once again being named the world’s busiest cargo airport in 2023 – a status it has held for 13 of the past 14 years. We are extremely proud to be part of this incredible success story and remain committed to working with all stakeholders to further grow Hong Kong as the world’s leading air cargo hub.”
