[ET Net News Agency, 18 September 2018] Cathay Pacific (00293) said the company, and
its wholly owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (Cathay Dragon) carried a total of
3.278 million passengers last month, an increase of 6.4% compared to August 2017.
The passenger load factor increased 0.8 percentage points to 87.1%, while capacity,
measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 4.9%. In the first eight months
of 2018, the number of passenger carried grew by 2.4% while capacity increased by 3.3%.
The two airlines carried 187,644 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of
8.9% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 2.9
percentage points to 68.4%.
Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was increased by 2.8%
while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased by 7.4%.
In the first eight months of 2018, the tonnage rose by 7.1% against a 3.3% increase in
capacity and a 6.6% increase in RFTKs.
Cathay Pacific Director Commercial and Cargo Ronald Lam said, "Traffic volume in August
outgrew capacity increases, with the recent strong demand for our premium cabins
continuing throughout the month. Our cargo business also continued its good momentum in
August. Tonnage grew ahead of capacity, which was driven by strong transshipment volumes
across our network. We saw good growth among the pharmaceutical and perishable segments."
"However, the favourable currency trend that we have enjoyed so far this year is
reversing rapidly. Besides, our performance in September is set to be negatively impacted
by the significant typhoons that disrupted our operations in both Japan and Hong Kong,
especially our cargo business which is in its seasonal peak. We are also closely
monitoring external factors that have the potential to impact global trade." he added.
(SC)