"Cathay Pacific"

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, has announced impressive traffic figures for June 2024, marking a significant milestone in its post-pandemic recovery.

The airline group, which includes its subsidiary HK Express, achieved a new daily passenger record on June 30, 2024, carrying approximately 92,000 passengers.

This achievement highlights the robust rebound of air travel demand. In the first half of 2024, Cathay Pacific and HK Express collectively transported around 13.5 million passengers, demonstrating strong growth in the aviation sector.

This surge in passenger numbers reflects increasing consumer confidence and the easing of travel restrictions globally.

June 2024 Performance Breakdown

Cathay Pacific’s June 2024 figures paint a picture of significant growth across various metrics:

• Passenger Count: The airline carried 1,837,706 passengers, an 18.7% increase compared to June 2023.
• Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs): A substantial year-on-year growth of 23.7% was observed.
• Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs): Capacity increased by 30% compared to the previous year.
• Passenger Load Factor: Despite the capacity increase, the load factor remained strong at 83.5%, though it decreased by 4.2 percentage points year-on-year.

The first six months of 2024 showed even more impressive growth when compared to the same period in 2023:

• Total Passengers: 10,659,601 (36.4% increase)
• ASKs: 42.7% increase
• RPKs: 34.9% increase

These figures underscore Cathay Pacific’s successful strategy in meeting the resurging travel demand while optimizing its capacity.

Cargo Operations Thrive

Cathay Pacific’s cargo division also reported robust performance:

• June 2024 Cargo Tonnage: 124,568 tonnes (12% year-on-year increase)
• Cargo Revenue Tonne Kilometres (RFTKs): 5.6% year-on-year growth
• Available Cargo Tonne Kilometres (AFTKs): 9.4% year-on-year increase

The first half of 2024 saw overall cargo growth with tonnage increasing by 10.5% to 719,464 tonnes, AFTKs up by 11.4%, and RFTKs rising by 4.6% compared to the same period in 2023.

Travel Trends and Market Insights

Lavinia Lau, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, provided valuable insights into the travel trends observed in June.

After a quieter May, June witnessed a strong rebound in travel sentiment across both long-haul and short-haul routes.

Long-haul travel demand was primarily driven by returning student traffic, with load factors for destinations like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe approaching 90%.

The resumption of the seasonal Barcelona service proved particularly popular among travelers from Hong Kong, Spain, and Australia.

Short-haul leisure travel saw a boost during the Dragon Boat Festival and Hong Kong SAR Establishment Day long weekends. Japan remained a top destination for Hong Kong travelers.

Cargo Market Dynamics

Despite June traditionally being a slower month for air cargo, Cathay Pacific experienced stronger-than-anticipated demand.

Significant year-on-year tonnage growth was observed from key markets including Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, and Europe. The airline also noted an increase in pharmaceutical shipments, particularly from Europe.

The relaunch of Cathay Expert, a specialized handling solution for odd-sized, heavy, or fragile cargo, was met with positive customer response. This resulted in a 34% tonnage improvement compared to the previous month.

Future Outlook and Strategic Moves

Looking ahead, Cathay Pacific anticipates a robust summer travel peak across its network. The airline continues to expand its route offerings, with plans to launch a four-times-weekly service to Ningbo in August.

In addition, a three-times-weekly seasonal service to Cairns is planned between December and March.

These additions bring the total number of new destinations announced by the Cathay Pacific Group in 2024 to ten, seven of which have already commenced operations.

In the cargo sector, Cathay Pacific expects the healthy demand observed in the first half of the year to continue into the traditional peak period in the second half.

The airline plans to adjust its freighter capacity to accommodate customer needs, particularly by adding more capacity to routes serving the Americas.

Financial Milestone

In a recent significant financial move, Cathay Pacific announced its intention to buy back the remaining HK$9.75 billion of preference shares.

These were issued to the Hong Kong SAR Government as part of its 2020 recapitalization. This transaction, scheduled for July 31, 2024, will bring the total preference share dividends paid to the government to HK$2.44 billion.

Overall, it marks the successful conclusion of this financial arrangement and signals Cathay Pacific’s recovery and financial health.

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Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific continues to grow well, as they produce positive passenger numbers in May 2024.

The airline has come far over the course of 2024, producing steady double-digit growth.

Without further ado, let’s get into it…

Numbers from Hong Kong: Strong Growth at Cathay Pacific…

In May 2024, Cathay Pacific handled 1,678,532 passengers, which was an increase of 18.4% compared to the same period last year.

Furthermore, passenger load factors did decrease by 4.8% to 80.3%, with ASKs increasing by 28% year-on-year.

In the first five months of this year, the airline has handled over 8.8m passengers, a 40.7% increase.

Cargo tonnage saw around 121,088 handled, which is an increase of 10.2% compared to last year.

However, cargo load factor decreased by 2.1% to 59.4%.

In the first five months of 2024, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific handled 594,896 tonnes, a 10.2% increase.

Lau: May Was Quiet But Increased Demand Was There…

Commenting on the results was Cathay Pacific Chief Customer & Commercial Officer, Lavinia Lau:

“May was, as expected, a slightly quieter period for our travel business compared with previous months as demand slowed down, particularly on our regional routes.”

“Without any long-weekend holidays in Hong Kong, we experienced a 4% decrease in passenger numbers compared with April, when multiple holidays drove strong leisure demand.”

“However, compared with the same month last year, passenger numbers were 18% higher.

“We saw increased demand from various countries in Southeast Asia due to the school holidays there.”

“Additionally, our long-haul services were boosted by the return of student traffic to Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland from North America, resulting in 90% load factors on our United States and Canada routes.”

“Business travel demand continued to be solid, with strong sales in Hong Kong supporting traffic on a number of our Chinese Mainland, North America and United Kingdom routes.”

Outlook Looks Positive…

Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, Lau said the following regarding Cathay Pacific and it’s outlook from Hong Kong:

“On the travel side, we achieved another milestone in our rebuilding journey as we reached 80% of our pre-pandemic passenger flights as a Group in the second quarter as planned.”

“We remain on track to reach 100% within the first quarter of 2025 as we continue to add more flights and destinations for our customers.”

“So far in 2024, Cathay Pacific has already added Chennai, Colombo and, as of this week, Barcelona to our global network, while HK Express has added Beijing (Daxing), Bangkok (Don Mueang), Sanya and Clark.”

“Our passenger airlines now fly to more than 80 destinations around the world.”

“This number will rise to 90 by next year as we continue to welcome even more destinations to our network, including Riyadh on 28 October 2024.”

“For cargo, we expect demand to remain strong as it has been throughout the first five months of 2024.”

“Market sentiment, particularly out of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, remains positive and we will continue to adjust our freighter capacity to suit the needs of our customers.”

“Furthermore, we are delighted to have recently relaunched our Cathay Expert solution after listening to the needs of our customers regarding handling project-related cargo.”

“This special solution is precisely tailored to provide customers with a fully customised handling for their odd-size, heavy or fragile cargo, and is the latest example of how we are enhancing our services as we strive to become the world’s best air cargo carrier.”

Overall…

Overall, this represents strong growth for Cathay Pacific out of Hong Kong.

Furthermore, the outlook shows that things continue to be positive.

Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic created significant detriment to the airline.

Looking ahead, all eyes turn to what the rest of the year will hold for the airline.

As we enter further into the Summer 2024 season, it is expected that the airline will become busier.

From there, we should continue to see continued increases in passenger number traffic.

E-commerce is also a market that Cathay Pacific is thriving in out of Hong Kong.

But for now, all eyes are on the next few months ahead to restore themselves as a powerhouse of Asia.

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