Cathay Pacific Group Releases Combined Traffic Figures for November 2018

Cathay Pacific Group today released combined Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic figures for November 2018 that show an increase in the number of passengers carried and a slight drop in cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2017.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 2,883,056 passengers last month, an increase of 1.4% compared to November 2017. The passenger load factor decreased 0.3 percentage points to 83.3%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 4.5%. In the first eleven months of 2018, the number of passengers carried grew by 1.9% while capacity increased by 3.3%.

The two airlines carried 185,135 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an decrease of 1.3% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 1.5 percentage points to 70.1%. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was increased by 0.9% while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased by 1.1%. In the first eleven months of 2018, the tonnage rose by 5.7% against a 2.9% increase in capacity and a 5.3% increase in RFTKs.

Cathay Pacific Director Commercial and Cargo Ronald Lam said: "Our overall passenger revenue performance was stable during November, against quite substantial year-on-year capacity growth. First and business class demand remained strong during the month. Of our most recently introduced destinations, Washington DC and Davao City are performing very well. The business outlook for the coming Christmas holiday peak is also positive at this stage.

"In terms of cargo, our overall revenue performance was excellent during November, which is a peak period of the year. E-commerce related movements were boosted by events such as Singles' Day in mainland China, which helped to even out the traditional dip in demand following the Thanksgiving holiday.

"However, we face a great deal of demand uncertainty in the coming months due to geopolitical factors that have the potential to impact global trade flows."