Cathay Pacific released its traffic figures for August 2024, showing that the airline carried more than two million passengers for the second consecutive month.
Cathay Pacific carried a total of 2,068,979 passengers in August 2024, an increase of 15.9% compared with August 2023. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 15.9% year on year. Passenger load factor decreased by 2.9 percentage points to 85.2%, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 19.8% year on year. In the first eight months of 2024, the number of passengers carried increased by 29.9% to a total of 14,736,805, against a 36.1% increase in ASKs and a 29.2% increase in RPKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.
The airline carried 124,236 tonnes of cargo in August 2024, an increase of 6.3% compared with August 2023. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 0.9% year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 1.7 percentage points to 57.1%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 2.1% year on year. In the first eight months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 9.8% to a total of 970,498 tonnes, against an 8.8% increase in AFTKs and a 3.2% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.
Travel
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “August marks the second half of the traditional summer travel peak. The strong demand we saw in July continued in August with more than two million passengers carried for the second month in a row. We also set a new single-day post-pandemic record on 10 August carrying almost 75,000 passengers.
“Leisure travel demand from Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area was strong throughout August with short-haul destinations being particularly popular. The beginning of the month also saw the resumption of our flights serving Ningbo, which were well received by our customers in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and India.
Cargo
“Cargo demand remained stable in August, continuing the trend of the past months, with tonnage 6% above August last year. We observed an uptick in demand towards the end of the month, in line with expectations as we look ahead to the traditional year-end peak.
“In terms of our special solutions, Cathay Live Animal benefitted from exports from Southeast Asia and North America, while Cathay Pharma saw increased exports from the United States. From the Greater Bay Area, e-commerce shipments continued to be the key driver of export tonnage.
Outlook
“As National Day approaches, travel demand from the Chinese Mainland for the upcoming ‘golden week’ holiday period is looking promising. Destinations in Southeast Asia are among the most popular, with Japan and South Korea also seeing strong interest from customers.
“In terms of new destinations, we are looking forward to launching our new passenger flights to and from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at the end of October, which will enhance our network in the Middle East and strengthen Hong Kong’s connectivity with this important region. Additionally, HK Express recently announced it will be launching services to Hiroshima in November and Phu Quoc in December.
“For cargo, we expect demand will be robust as we move into the traditional peak season from the second half of September. Five additional flights per week to North America will be operated. While e-commerce tonnage will continue to rise, we also foresee an increase in tonnage of high-tech and electronic goods from the Chinese Mainland, Southeast Asia and India. We look forward to welcoming the arrival of the two giant pandas gifted to the Hong Kong SAR by the Central Government. These two ‘VIP customers’ will be shipped by Cathay Cargo, showcasing our expertise and care in carrying special cargo.
“We are also delighted to share that as per the latest IATA 2023 World Air Transport Statistics, Cathay Pacific regained its position in the Top 10 cargo carriers based on scheduled cargo tonne kilometres, and achieved fifth position as a combination airline. This attested to our continuous commitment to maintaining and growing Hong Kong as the world’s number one air cargo hub.”
On 13 September, Cathay completed the buyback of all of the warrants it had issued to the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2020 as part of its recapitalisation. The total consideration paid for the warrants buyback was about HK$1.53 billion. Together with the total of HK$2.44 billion paid in preference share dividends, this represents a payment of nearly HK$4 billion to the Hong Kong SAR Government.
