Combined Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon traffic figures for July 2019 show an increase in the number of passengers carried and a drop in cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2018.
Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 3,278,742 passengers last month, an increase of 4.0% compared to July 2018. However, passenger load factor decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 86.1%, while capacity rose by 7.2%.
In the first seven months of 2019, the number of passengers carried grew by 4.4% while capacity increased by 6.7%, as compared to the same period for 2018.
The two airlines carried 169,720 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 8.2% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 7.2 percentage points to 63.1%. Capacity was up by 0.8% while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometers (RFTKs) dropped by 9.4%.
In the first seven months of 2019, the tonnage fell by 6.1% against a 1.0% increase in capacity and a 6.6% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2018.
“Recent events in Hong Kong over the past two months did not substantially impact our passenger business in July; however, we anticipate a much more significant impact to our revenue in August and onwards,” said Cathay Pacific chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam.
“Traffic into Hong Kong, both business and leisure, has weakened substantially and we’ve also now seen ex-Hong Kong traffic starting to soften, especially on our short-haul network including mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea and South East Asia,” Lam added.
In July, passenger demand was strong in the first half of the summer peak while load factors also remained high, he said. “As anticipated, however, yield remained under pressure due to intense competition and increasing transit passenger traffic, and our North America, Europe and mainland China routes underperformed as a result.”
On the group’s cargo business, he said it continued to face headwinds with market sentiment softening across the board. “Indeed, South Asia was the only sales region where we still saw tonnage growth compared to the previous month and year. While the market outlook remains uncertain, we continue to be vigilant as we work to mitigate the impact on our business.”
HKIA traffic results for July
Meanwhile Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) said it handled 6.7 million passengers in July, representing year-on-year growth of 1.0%, while cargo throughput dropped 7.3% to 401,000 tonnes.
The rise in passenger numbers was supported by 11% growth in transfer and transit traffic compared to July 2018. Overall passenger traffic to and from Southeast Asia and Japan recorded the most significant increases.
The decrease in cargo throughput was attributed to a 12% decline in both imports and transshipments. Among key trading regions, cargo throughput of Southeast Asia and North America decreased most significantly during the month.
Over the first seven months of the year, HKIA handled 44.6 million passengers, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.3%. Cargo throughput recorded 2.7 million tonnes, a decline of 6.8% compared to the same period last year.
On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger volume grew by 2.0% to 75.7 million, while cargo throughput recorded 5 million tonnes, a decrease of 4.1% compared to the same period last year.
Photo: N509FZ
