Hong Kong sister airlines Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon registered a combined increase in the number of passengers carried and a drop in cargo and mail uplifted in March 2019 year-on-year.
On the other hand, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) saw continued growth in both passenger and cargo volumes in the same month compared to a year ago.
Flag carrier Cathay Pacific Group said a total of 3,111,270 passengers were carried by its sister airlines last month, an increase of 2.5% compared to March 2018. Capacity increased by 4.9%. In the first three months of 2019, the number of passenger carried grew by 3.7% while capacity went up by 6%.
The two airlines carried 185,156 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 2.5% compared to the same month last year. Capacity was up by 0.3% while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometers (RFTKs) dropped by 2.9%. In the first three months of 2019, the tonnage fell by 4.9% against a 0.2% dip in capacity and a 5.5% decrease in RFTKs.
Cathay Pacific director for commercial and cargo Ronald Lam noted that the later Easter holiday this year somewhat distorted the company’s passenger revenue growth comparison. But he added that the outlook for April, which includes the Easter peak, is promising.
On the cargo side, the company continued to see a trend of year-on-year decline in both volume and yield.
“However some slight improvements were seen in March when compared to the previous two months, including from our key markets of Hong Kong and mainland China to both regional and long-haul destinations. We continue to closely observe China-US trade talk developments and their impact on global trade flows,” said Lam.
Meanwhile, HKIA reported passenger volume growth of 0.3% to 6.4 million compared to the same month last year, while cargo throughput recorded year-on-year growth of 0.2% to 432,000 tonnes.
The growth in passenger volume was driven by higher levels of transfer and transit traffic, which together registered a year-on-year upsurge of 9%. Passenger traffic to and from India, China and Japan recorded the most significant increases. Because the Easter peak season fell in late March last year, Hong Kong resident travel in March this year experienced a 10% year-on-year drop.
Exports saw an 11% increase in March, making the biggest contribution to cargo growth. Among key trading regions, cargo exported to North America and Europe posted the largest increases. Imports and transshipments both declined.
Over the first three months of the year, HKIA handled 18.8 million passengers, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.5%. HKIA handled 1.1 million tonnes of cargo between January and March 2019, a 5.4% decrease compared to the same period in 2018.
On a 12-month rolling basis, HKIA handled 75.1 million passengers, representing an increase of 2%, while cargo throughput experienced a slight decline of 0.6% to 5.06 million tonnes.
Photo: Image by Andy Leung
