The Cathay Group today released its traffic figures for May 2025.
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “As a Group, with the six new destinations added to our global network in May and June, we are delighted to have reached a total of 100 passenger destinations worldwide. This important milestone underscores our commitment to enhancing the global connectivity of our Hong Kong hub, and we won’t stop there. This year, we have already announced many new destinations to be joining our network, with more exciting ones to come in the future.”
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific carried 36.1% more passengers in May 2025 compared with May 2024, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) increased by 31.2%. In the first five months of 2025, the number of passengers carried increased by 28.4% compared with the same period for 2024.
Lavinia said: “While May has typically been a quieter month for our travel business, this year it exceeded expectations with load factor reaching 84.7% — the highest it has been in the month of May since 2015. This was boosted by strong long-haul demand from the early return of student traffic to Hong Kong, and our well-received special fares campaign launched in February. Demand for business travel also remained robust, supported by traffic from Hong Kong to the Chinese Mainland and various long-haul destinations in the Americas and the United Kingdom. Looking ahead, we anticipate demand during the summer travel peak to be healthy, with Southeast Asia being especially popular among customers from our home market.
“May also marked the first stage of our extensive lounge enhancement plan at Hong Kong International Airport. With The Bridge’s reopening and The Deck serving as an interim First class lounge, we are ensuring that our members and customers continue to enjoy a premium lounge experience during the renovation of The Wing lounges.”
Cathay Cargo
Cathay Cargo carried 12.2% more cargo in May 2025 than in May 2024. Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 8% while load factor increased by 0.1 percentage points year on year. In the first five months of 2025, the total tonnage increased by 12.3% compared with the same period for 2024.
Lavinia said: “Our cargo business performed well in May, with tonnage 1.8% higher than in April. Despite the ‘Golden Week’ holidays, we saw growth in both the Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland markets, with the temporary reduction in tariffs pending an agreement between China and the United States boosting short-term demand. In addition, our Cathay Live Animal solution experienced robust demand, particularly exports of live seafood from Southeast Asia, and horses from Australia. Turning to June, we expect that the overall market sentiment will remain reasonable and we will continue to maintain a close watch.
“We are also delighted that Cathay Cargo has been named Airline of the Year – Asia at the World Air Cargo Awards 2025 hosted by Air Cargo Week, recognising our commitment to innovation, quality, compliance and operational excellence, and our ongoing efforts to strengthen Hong Kong as a leading global air cargo hub.”
HK Express
HK Express carried more than 640,000 passengers in May, marking an increase of 35.7% year on year, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) grew by 42.6%. In the first five months of 2025, the number of passengers carried increased by 37.2% compared with the same period for 2024.
Lavinia said: “In addition to sustaining its network expansion with the launch of new routes to Changzhou and Yiwu in May, HK Express achieved a new milestone by recording its highest monthly seat capacity in its history. That said, it will take time for demand growth to catch up with the additional capacity, resulting in a decrease in load factor compared with May last year.
“For June, HK Express has already launched new services to Cheongju and Daegu, with Miyako (Shimojishima) still to come later this month. We have also recently announced flights to Guiyang and Kuala Lumpur (Subang) launching in July and August, respectively.”
