Cathay Pacific carries 1.6 million passengers in November, 210 percent increase
Cathay Pacific carried 1.6 million passengers in November, a 210 percent increase compared to the same month last year
Cathay Pacific showing positive growth in its traffic figures for November, driven by seasonal sales and year-end demand. In the December 19 press release, the airline said it carried a total of 1,633,145 passengers last month, an increase of 210 percent compared to November 2022.
The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 148.2 percent year on year. Passenger load factor increased by 2.1 percentage points to 80.5 percent, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 141.9 percent year on year. In the first 11 months of 2023, the number of passengers carried increased by 709.2 percent against a 393.2 percent increase in ASKs and a 499.7 percent increase in RPKs, as compared with the same period for 2022.
Passenger travel in the month of November
“November is typically a slower month for our travel business. Our routes to and from the United States saw reduced demand before Thanksgiving week with less business and leisure travel around the holiday period. As there were no public holidays in November, leisure travel from Hong Kong across the network was also generally softer,” said Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Lavinia Lau.
“Nevertheless, there were some bright spots within the network, including our India routes which saw strong Diwali traffic. Our Japan routes also saw good leisure demand for the autumn leaves.”
Outlook for 2024
Looking ahead to 2024, Cathay Pacific anticipates a busy holiday period to start the new year, especially after the reopening of Hong Kong's borders, post-pandemic.
“We are very excited to have welcomed a number of recent developments that further enhance the intermodal travel experience from the Greater Bay Area,” said Lau. “The first was the opening of our first-ever Cathay Pacific ferry lounge at the Shekou Cruise Home Port in Shenzhen in November, enabling customers travelling via ferry codeshare to enjoy a premium lounge experience before their journey. The second was the launch of the ‘Fly-Via-Zhuhai-HK’ passenger service by Airport Authority Hong Kong in December, that enables seamless connection via Hong Kong International Airport using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge without the need for border control clearance in Hong Kong.”
“Meanwhile, this December will mark the first Christmas holiday period since Hong Kong’s borders fully reopened and we are very pleased to see that travel demand remains strong,” Lau continued. “Our seasonal Christchurch service returned this month – it was our first seasonal restart since the pandemic and the response from our customers has been encouraging. We are also delighted to be bringing back our First Class service on our popular New York (JFK) flights CX830/CX831 starting from 31 March 2024.”
