Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for October 2012 that show a small increase in passenger numbers compared to the same month last year, albeit with a drop in load factor. Cargo and mail tonnage showed a year-on-year increase for the second month in a row.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,405,027 passengers in October - an increase of 1.0% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor fell by 1.8 percentage points to 78.3%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), dropped by 3.1%. For the year to date, passenger numbers have risen by 5.4% compared to a capacity increase of 4.1%.

The two airlines carried 138,608 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 1.9% compared to October 2011. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 2.2 percentage points to 64.0%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 0.5%, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown dropped by 2.8%. For the year to date, tonnage has declined by 7.3% against a capacity drop of 4.3%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management James Tong said: "Our capacity in October showed a decline for the second consecutive month as a result of the trimming of a number of long-haul frequencies introduced in September. We continue to strengthen our regional services, however, with flights to Haikou recommencing in late October. The pick-up in demand in premium cabins was slow last month. Passenger demand in the Economy cabin held up reasonably well for long-haul flights but was soft in the region. Yield remained under pressure in a highly competitive environment."

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing James Woodrow said: "We saw a small uptick in demand in October, driven by the launch of a number of new hi-tech consumer products out of key manufacturing centres in the region. Following a lull in demand over the long National Day holiday period in Mainland China, we were therefore able to operate close to a full freighter schedule by the end of the month. However, in the longer term, demand from Asia to Europe will continue to be affected by the economic fragility in a number of euro-zone countries."