Return to Stories

Cathay Pacific releases combined traffic figures for July 2015

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for July 2015 that show strong year-on-year growth in the number of passengers carried but only a marginal increase in the volume of cargo and mail uplifted.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,984,795 passengers last month – an increase of 6.9% compared to July 2014. The passenger load factor grew by 1.4 percentage points to 87.0% while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), grew by 6.2%. In the year to the end of July, passenger traffic rose by 8.5% while capacity increased by 6.4%.

The two airlines carried 147,545 tonnes of cargo and mail in July, an increase of 0.5% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 2.9 percentage points to 61.8%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 6.2% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) flown increased by 1.4%. In the year to the end of July, tonnage rose by 6.8% against a capacity increase of 8.5% and a 9.0% rise in RTKs.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Patricia Hwang said: “July was a busy month for our passenger business with the growth in traffic staying ahead of the increase in capacity, although yield remained under pressure. Loads were high on most routes across our network with strong demand for leisure travel both within the region and to long-haul destinations. Premium traffic was reasonably robust on regional routes though we continued to see a shortfall to some key long-haul destinations. Traffic to Korea remained weak in July due to the MERS outbreak and we reduced capacity accordingly. However, we expect demand to rebound quickly now that the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Red Outbound Travel Alert for Korea has been lifted.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: “After a flat second quarter, demand for air freight shipments remained below expectations throughout July. The growth in tonnage lagged the growth in capacity by a sizeable margin, which dragged down the month’s load factor. Yield remained under pressure due to overcapacity in a number of markets. Among the positive stories of the month, demand into and out of India continued to be ahead of expectations and we also saw an upsurge in project shipments out of Western China, and Chongqing in particular.”

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED TRAFFIC

JUL

2015

% Change

VS JUL 14

Cumulative

JUL 2015

% Change

YTD

RPK (000)

 

 

 

 

 - Mainland China

799,629

7.3%

5,216,943

6.3%

 - North East Asia

1,291,443

-3.8%

8,957,928

6.4%

 - South East Asia

1,574,654

21.9%

10,069,422

18.4%

- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

721,909

1.0%

4,870,322

-3.1%

 - South West Pacific & South Africa

1,340,770

4.5%

9,861,113

12.2%

 - North America

3,050,269

6.5%

19,604,717

7.7%

 - Europe

2,010,723

14.7%

12,044,373

10.9%

RPK Total (000)

10,789,397

7.9%

70,624,818

9.1%

Passengers carried

2,984,795

6.9%

19,785,126

8.5%

Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000)

877,066

1.4%

5,983,693

9.0%

Cargo and mail carried (000kg)

147,545

0.5%

1,015,724

6.8%

Number of flights

6,753

3.7%

45,549

5.3%

 

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED CAPACITY

JUL

2015

% Change

VS JUL 14

Cumulative

JUL 2015

% Change

YTD

ASK (000)

 

 

 

 

 - Mainland China

956,775

2.0%

6,569,097

1.1%

 - North East Asia

1,588,932

-3.1%

10,964,063

4.3%

 - South East Asia

1,852,271

15.4%

12,072,913

14.1%

- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

855,434

-2.4%

5,814,122

-9.0%

 - South West Pacific & South Africa

1,587,880

4.6%

11,179,900

7.8%

 - North America

3,443,511

7.0%

21,978,965

7.2%

 - Europe

2,114,437

12.1%

13,509,325

9.7%

ASK Total (000)

12,399,240

6.2%

82,088,385

6.4%

Passenger load factor

87.0%

1.4pt

86.0%

2.1pt

Available cargo/mail tonne km (000)

1,418,497

6.2%

9,389,889

8.5%

Cargo and mail load factor

61.8%

-2.9pt

63.7%

0.3pt

ATK (000)

2,597,390

6.2%

17,195,363

7.5%