Cathay Pacific Announces December Traffic Figures

17 Jan 2002

Cathay Pacific Airways today released traffic figures for December 2001, which indicate further progress in rebuilding customer confidence after the sharp falls in passenger traffic seen in October and November. Cathay Pacific carried a total of 986,568 passengers in December 2001, 2.4% less than in the same month in the previous year. The overall volume of passenger traffic measured in terms of revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) fell by 3.3 percent compared to December 2000. The passenger load factor for the month was 75.1%. The amount of cargo carried was 64,553 tonnes, down 1% from December 2000. The air cargo market continues to reflect the global economic slowdown, with excess industry capacity still very much evident. For the year 2001 as a whole, the airline carried 11.27 million passengers, a fall of 5% compared to the year 2000 result. The amount of cargo carried during the year fell by 8.5% to 704,154 tonnes. Cathay Pacific's General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: "The second half of 2001 was marked by exceptionally difficult market conditions. On the face of it, the December traffic figures are mildly encouraging, but tell only one side of the revenue story. Demand for business travel remains weak, and airlines are competing very aggressively to stimulate demand amongst leisure travellers, with widespread discounting and a wide range of special promotional offers in the market. As a result, average fares have fallen quite sharply and will continue to undermine airline revenues for the foreseeable future.

Cathay Pacific Airways
Corporate Communication Department