Cathay Pacific Releases Combined Traffic Figures for September 2015

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for September 2015 that show an increase in both the number of passengers carried and the amount of cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month last year.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,632,845 passengers last month - an increase of 5.8% compared to September 2014. The passenger load factor grew by 2.9 percentage points to 83.9% while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), grew by 3.4%. In the year to the end of September, passenger traffic rose by 8.2% while capacity increased by 6.0%.

The two airlines carried 151,358 tonnes of cargo and mail in September, an increase of 2.8% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 0.2 percentage points to 62.4%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 3.0% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) flown increased by 3.4%. In the year to the end of September, tonnage rose by 5.6% against a capacity increase of 7.2% and a 7.4% rise in RTKs.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Patricia Hwang said: "After a very busy summer peak, passenger traffic dropped back in September in line with our expectations. However, demand in the Economy cabins remained generally robust and we saw a decent increase in load factor compared to the same month last year. Regional leisure demand was buoyant and we saw passenger numbers begin to climb back on the Bangkok route after the HKSAR Government lifted its Red Outbound Travel Alert. September usually marks the beginning of the peak season for corporate travel but we didn’t see any significant surge last month. Premium demand on long-haul routes in particular continued to lag expectations."

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: "As expected, demand in the cargo markets began to climb as we moved into September, though it was more of a trickle than a surge. Our business received a boost from the movement of new consumer IT products out of the key manufacturing areas of Western China, but overall the momentum in the markets remained flat. Our main focus was on transpacific routes to the Americas though demand to and from India continued to remain buoyant. We still expect to see a traditional winter peak and will be operating a full freighter schedule from mid-October through November.