Cathay Pacific releases combined traffic figures for February 2014

Published on : Saturday, March 15, 2014

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for February 2014 that show an increase in passenger numbers alongside a drop in cargo and mail tonnage compared to the same month in 2013.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,381,020 passengers in February – an increase of 1.8% compared to the same month last year.

The passenger load factor rose by 1.1 percentage points to 81.9%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 3.0%.

In the first two months of the year, the passenger volume rose by 5.5% compared to a 3.2% increase in capacity.

The two airlines carried 101,295 tonnes of cargo and mail in February, a drop of 2.4% compared to February 2013.

The cargo and mail load factor fell by 1.8 percentage points to 59.3%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, fell by 1.5% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres flown were down by 4.4%. In the first two months of the year, tonnage dropped by 1.8% against a capacity increase of 3.9%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management James Tong said: “January’s healthy demand continued into February and it was encouraging to see passenger numbers growing over 2013, despite the Chinese New Year peak for leisure travel falling in February last year.

Demand on long-haul routes held up particularly well and within the region we again saw robust traffic to both Japan and Korea.

The unrest in Bangkok continued to affect bookings and we adjusted capacity to match demand on the route. Business in the premium cabins was in line with expectations in February.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: “Demand in the key Hong Kong and Mainland China markets plummeted following the beginning of Chinese New Year and the pick-up after the holiday was slow.

However, by the middle of the month we began to see an increase in demand on the North America and Europe lanes and also for intra-Asia traffic, and by the end of February we were operating close to a full schedule.

The Americas will remain a key focus for our cargo business and March sees two new destinations added to our freighter network – Mexico City and Columbus, Ohio.”

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED TRAFFIC

FEB
2014
% Change
VS FEB 13
Cumulative
FEB 2014
% Change
YTD
RPK (000)
– Mainland China 670,624 -2.9% 1,376,816 4.0%
– North East Asia 1,125,355 7.2% 2,223,690 9.7%
– South East Asia 1,129,125 -2.6% 2,347,258 1.4%
– India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka 599,836 0.9% 1,312,290 5.6%
– South West Pacific & South Africa 1,250,635 3.0% 2,638,337 3.0%
– North America 2,114,522 13.6% 4,628,414 15.0%
– Europe 1,321,313 2.3% 2,917,224 5.1%
RPK Total (000) 8,211,410 4.4% 17,444,029 7.2%
Passengers carried 2,381,020 1.8% 4,925,279 5.5%
Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000) 548,575 -4.4% 1,301,342 0.3%
Cargo and mail carried (000kg) 101,295 -2.4% 232,250 -1.8%
Number of flights 5,595 2.7% 11,875 3.9%

CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED CAPACITY

FEB
2014
% Change
VS FEB 13
Cumulative
FEB 2014
% Change
YTD
ASK (000)
– Mainland China 881,132 -1.0% 1,860,873 0.7%
– North East Asia 1,390,031 -0.7% 2,844,100 -0.1%
– South East Asia 1,384,171 -2.2% 2,956,544 -1.0%
– India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka 843,321 0.7% 1,782,241 1.8%
– South West Pacific & South Africa 1,451,844 -0.7% 3,053,967 -1.5%
– North America 2,474,273 13.3% 5,227,781 13.1%
– Europe 1,596,349 3.9% 3,365,669 2.6%
ASK Total (000) 10,021,121 3.0% 21,091,175 3.2%
Passenger load factor 81.9% 1.1pt 82.7% 3.1pt
Available cargo/mail tonne km (000) 925,408 -1.5% 2,168,780 3.9%
Cargo and mail load factor 59.3% -1.8pt 60.0% -2.2pt
ATK (000) 1,878,299 0.8% 4,174,593 3.6%