Cathay Pacific Group Releases Combined Traffic Figures for March 2019

Cathay Pacific Group today released combined Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic figures for March 2019 that show an increase in the number of passengers carried and a drop in cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2018.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 3,111,270 passengers last month - an increase of 2.5% compared to March 2018. The passenger load factor decreased 1.3 percentage points to 83.9%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 4.9%. In the first three months of 2019, the number of passenger carried grew by 3.7% while capacity increased by 6%.

The two airlines carried 185,156 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 2.5% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 2.2 percentage points to 68.5%. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was up by 0.3% while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) dropped by 2.9%. In the first three months of 2019, the tonnage fell by 4.9% against a 0.2% dip in capacity and a 5.5% decrease in RFTKs.

Cathay Pacific Director Commercial and Cargo Ronald Lam said: "It should be noted that the later Easter holiday this year resulted in some distortion in our passenger revenue growth comparison. Passenger volumes were unable to keep pace with capacity growth during March, with yield also coming under pressure in both Business and Economy Class cabins. Meanwhile, the outlook for April, which includes the Easter peak, is promising.

"On the cargo side, we continue to see a trend of year-on-year decline in both volume and yield. However some slight improvements were seen in March when compared to the previous two months, including from our key markets of Hong Kong and mainland China to both regional and long-haul destinations. We continue to closely observe China-US trade talk developments and their impact on global trade flows."