Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and its low-cost subsidiary HK Express have achieved over 80% of their pre-Covid capacity, according to the latest update from chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau.
In the first five months of 2024, Cathay Pacific and HK Express carried a combined total of 11.2 million passengers. Specifically, Cathay Pacific transported 1,678,532 passengers in May 2024, marking an 18.4% increase compared to May 2023. The revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) for the month saw a 20.8% year-on-year rise. However, the passenger load factor dipped by 4.8 percentage points to 80.3%, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 28% year-on-year.
From January to May 2024, Cathay Pacific recorded a 40.7% increase in passengers, totalling over 8.8 million. This growth came alongside a 45.7% rise in ASKs and a 37.5% increase in RPKs compared to the same period in 2023.
“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,” said Lavinia Lau.
Lau highlighted that Cathay Pacific has reached 80% of its pre-pandemic passenger flights as a group in the second quarter of 2024, in line with their recovery plan. The airline aims to return to full capacity by the first quarter of 2025, continuing to add more flights and destinations.
In 2024, Cathay Pacific has already reinstated flights to Chennai, Colombo, and Barcelona. HK Express has expanded its network with new routes to Beijing (Daxing), Bangkok (Don Mueang), Sanya, and Clark. Currently, Cathay and HK Express serve over 80 destinations, with plans to increase this number to over 90 by next year, including the launch of flights to Riyadh starting 28 October 2024.
This significant progress underscores Cathay Pacific’s ongoing recovery and commitment to restoring its extensive network, meeting the increasing demand for travel.