Cathay Pacific Group Releases Combined Traffic Figures for September 2018

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

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 2,612,643 passengers last month, a decrease of 1.0% compared to September 2017. The passenger load factor decreased 0.2 percentage points to 80.8%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 0.7%. In the first nine months of 2018, the number of passenger carried grew by 2.0% while capacity increased by 3.1%.

The two airlines carried 180,623 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 1.7% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 1.1 percentage points to 69.2%. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was increased by 0.7% while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased by 2.3%. In the first nine months of 2018, the tonnage rose by 6.4% against a 3.0% increase in capacity and a 6.1% increase in RFTKs.

Cathay Pacific Director Commercial and Cargo Ronald Lam said: "The significant disruption caused by Typhoon Mangkhut in Hong Kong and Typhoon Jebi in Japan negatively impacted both our passenger and cargo businesses in September, leading to slower capacity and revenue growth than had been anticipated.

"On the passenger front, the load factor remained stable based on the operated capacity, whereas gross yield only achieved small growth, with the previous favourable currency trend ceasing in September.

"On the cargo front, demand continued to strengthen as we moved into the seasonal peak and we saw both year-on-year load factor and yield improvements during the month. However, we continue to closely monitor external factors that are impacting global trade."