Cathay Pacific today released its traffic figures for March 2024, which showed strong demand for travel from Hong Kong driven by the Easter holiday period, and travel to Hong Kong supported by the various exhibitions and events held in the city.

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 1,883,404 passengers in March 2024, an increase of 42.4% compared with March 2023. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 38.1% year on year. Passenger load factor decreased by 6.6 percentage points to 83.8%, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 48.9% year on year. In the first three months of 2024, the number of passengers carried increased by 55.7% to a total of 5,401,778, against a 56.4% increase in ASKs and a 47.7% increase in RPKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.

The airline carried 134,551 tonnes of cargo in March 2024, an increase of 10.5% compared with March 2023. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased 4.1% year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 4.3 percentage points to 62.7%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 11.2% year on year. In the first three months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 11.1% to a total of 356,380 tonnes, against a 15.2% increase in AFTKs and a 6.2% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.

Travel 
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “Our travel business performed well in March with healthy demand across our services both leading up to and during the Easter holiday period. Student traffic from the United Kingdom was particularly strong ahead of Easter, and outbound and return traffic in general surged over the holidays.

"Demand in the premium cabins both to and from Hong Kong also remained strong. This was driven by the various exhibitions and trade shows that took place in the city in March, most notably the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and Art Basel. We were also pleased to resume our direct flights between Bangkok and Singapore in March, which have been popular with customers.

Cargo
“Cargo demand was stronger in March, with our tonnage up by 26% compared with the previous month and up by 11% compared to March 2023. Cargo demand out of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland picked up quickly after factories re-opened following the Chinese New Year holidays, and we observed an increase in e-commerce and express shipments due to the end-of-quarter rush. 

Outlook 
“Looking ahead to the Chinese Mainland’s forthcoming Labour Day ‘Golden Week’ holiday period, we are seeing a healthy increase in travel demand from the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong, as well as to regional destinations via the Hong Kong hub. We will be increasing our Chinese Mainland frequencies to around 200 round-trip flights per week as a Group during the Golden Week to cater for this strong demand.

“In terms of cargo, we expect e-commerce demand to remain strong and for overall air cargo demand to be stable on long-haul routes. 

“As the largest cargo operator at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), we also congratulate HKIA on once again being named the world's busiest cargo airport in 2023 – a status it has held for 13 of the past 14 years. We are extremely proud to be part of this incredible success story, and remain committed to continuing to work together with all stakeholders to further grow Hong Kong as the world’s leading air cargo hub.” 

Glossary

Terms:

Available seat kilometres (“ASK”) 
Passenger seat capacity, measured in seats available for the carriage of passengers on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.

Available tonne kilometres (“ATK”)
Overall capacity measured in tonnes available for the carriage of passengers, excess baggage, cargo on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.

Available cargo tonne kilometres (“AFTK”)
Cargo capacity measured in tonnes available for the carriage of freight on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.

Revenue passenger kilometres (“RPK”)
Number of passengers carried on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.

Cargo revenue tonne kilometres (“RFTK”)
Amount of cargo, measured in tonnes, carried on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.