Copyright © 2024 Swire Pacific Limited. All rights reserved.
12 Nov 2008
Cathay Pacific Releases Combined Traffic Figures for October 2008

 

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for October 2008 that show passenger growth falling behind capacity growth, together with a significant fall in the amount of cargo and mail carried compared to the same month last year.

In October, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair between them carried a total of 2,091,339 passengers - up 2.6% on the same month in 2007 but some way behind the 11.6% growth in capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), for the same period. The load factor for the month was down 5.3 percentage points at 75.5%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried has risen by 9.2% compared to a capacity rise of 14.2%.

The amount of cargo and mail carried in October dropped by 7.4% to 144,466 tonnes, while the month's capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, fell by 2.6% compared to the same month in 2007. The cargo and mail load factor dropped by 2.9 percentage points to 65.9%. For the year to date, cargo and mail tonnage has climbed by 2.4% compared to a capacity rise of 2.8%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Tom Owen said: "We saw continued weakness in our passenger traffic in October despite capacity growth. October is traditionally one of the busiest months for corporate travel but the peak didn't materialise this year. Demand to and from Hong Kong remained depressed, particularly on the corporate sales side. We also continue to see the fallout from the financial crisis on most long-haul routes as well as regionally, reflecting a tightening of corporate travel policies and reduced travel for both business and leisure. The outlook remains challenging."

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Titus Diu said: "Usually we see a surge in our cargo business in October but this year demand was weaker than expected in most of our key markets, including Hong Kong. We saw no significant post-Olympics pickup out of China while the mini-peak anticipated after the National Day holidays in the Mainland didn't materialise. We worked to offset weakening demand by combining freighter flights or making ad hoc cancellations where possible."

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED TRAFFIC OCT 2008 % Change
VS
OCT 07
Cumulative
OCT 2008
% Change
YTD
RPK (000)
- China 569,950 3.7% 4,986,411 4.8%
- North East Asia 958,357 2.2% 9,753,062 4.5%
- South East Asia & Middle East 1,454,138 10.1% 14,301,721 14.1%
- Europe 1,411,537 -5.7% 14,184,977 3.2%
- South West Pacific & South Africa 1,167,607 12.5% 10,915,468 13.6%
- North America 1,890,890 4.8% 21,910,712 27.8%
RPK Total (000) 7,452,479 4.3% 76,052,351 13.3%
Passengers carried 2,091,339 2.6% 20,870,446 9.2%
Cargo and mail tonne km (000) 785,628 -6.7% 7,436,447 2.9%
Cargo and mail carried (000kg) 144,466 -7.4% 1,397,794 2.4%
Number of flights 5,188 4.8% 49,824 5.6%

 

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED CAPACITY OCT 2008 % Change
VS
OCT 07
Cumulative
OCT 2008
% Change
YTD
ASK (000)
- China 775,011 4.2% 7,251,546 3.2%
- North East Asia 1,288,664 0.9% 12,779,160 0.1%
- South East Asia & Middle East 2,075,322 25.6% 18,436,899 15.0%
- Europe 1,728,612 2.0% 16,549,229 1.0%
- South West Pacific & South Africa 1,506,067 18.1% 14,293,861 21.2%
- North America 2,495,738 13.2% 26,878,175 32.7%
ASK Total (000) 9,869,414 11.6% 96,188,870 14.2%
Passenger load factor 75.5% -5.3pt 79.1% -0.6pt
Available cargo/mail tonne km (000) 1,191,836 -2.6% 11,219,827 2.8%
Cargo and mail load factor 65.9% -2.9pt 66.3% 0.1pt
ATK (000) 2,131,177 3.2% 20,367,980 7.6%