Cathay Pacific Airways released combined Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic figures for August 2017 that show an increase in both the number of passengers carried and cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2016.
Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 3,079,949 passengers last month – an increase of 3.5% compared to August 2016. The passenger load factor dropped 0.5 percentage points to 86.3%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), and increased by 4.8%. In the first eight months of 2017, the number of passenger carried increased by 0.3% while capacity rose by 2.0%.
Ronald Lam, Director Commercial and Cargo, Cathay Pacific
We recorded modest revenue growth in August, despite our operations being disrupted by numerous typhoons in the region, including at our home hub in Hong Kong. The additional capacity we deployed on our European routes enabled strong volume growth during the summer peak, while premium class demand across the network in general remained robust. Headwinds in the form of yield decline persisted in several of our key markets, while geopolitical instability in Northeast Asia necessitated careful capacity management on our Korean routes.
Our cargo business, meanwhile, continued its good momentum. Demand out of our key markets remained strong; tonnage growth was well ahead of capacity growth, with both inbound and outbound sectors sustaining high levels. Overall, our cargo yield sustained an improving trend. Looking ahead, we plan to operate our maximum freighter schedule in order to match the forecast surge in demand from various new product launches.