Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and low-cost carrier HK Express are currently operating at just over 80 per cent of their pre-Covid capacity, chief commercial and customer officer Lavinia Lau said in an update this week.
In the first five months of the year to May 31, 2024, oneworld member Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary HK Express together surpassed the 10 million passenger mark, with a combined total of 11.2 million passengers transported during the period.
Cathay Pacific carried a total of 1,678,532 passengers in May 2024, an increase of 18.4 percent compared to May 2023. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) for the month increased 20.8 percent year-on-year.
Passenger load factor decreased 4.8 percentage points to 80.3 percent, while available seat kilometers (ASK) increased 28 percent year-on-year.
In the first five months of 2024, the number of passengers carried increased by 40.7 percent to more than 8.8 million, against a 45.7 percent increase in ASKs and a 37.5 percent increase in in the RPKs, compared to the same period in 2023.
“May was, as expected, a slightly quieter period for our travel business compared to previous months as demand slowed, particularly on our regional routes.
With no long weekend holidays in Hong Kong, we experienced a 4% decline in passenger numbers compared to April, when multiple holidays drove strong leisure demand. However, compared to the same month last year, the number of passengers was 18% higher,” said Lavinia Lau, chief commercial and customer officer.
“On the travel side, we achieved another milestone in our rebuilding journey as we reached 80% of our pre-pandemic passenger flights as a Group in the second quarter, as planned. “We remain on track to reach 100% in the first quarter of 2025 as we continue to add more flights and destinations for our customers,” Lau said.
So far in 2024, Cathay Pacific has already re-added Chennai, Colombo and, as of this week, Barcelona to its network, while HK Express has added Beijing (Daxing), Bangkok (Don Mueang), Sanya and Clark .
Cathay and HK Express currently fly to more than 80 destinations and this number is expected to increase to more than 90 next year, including the launch of flights to Riyadh from October 28, 2024.
cathaypacific.com
