Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific has released its latest traffic figures for November 2024. The results, released on December 20, 2024, show that the airline is continuing its growth momentum as 2024 ends in both its passenger and cargo businesses.
The carrier carried a total of 2,010,506 passengers in November 2024, an increase of 23.1% compared to November 2023. The month’s revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) increased 25.8% year-on-year. The airline’s network passenger load factor increased by 3 percentage points to 83.5%, while available seat kilometers (ASKs) increased by 21.3% over the same month in 2023. In the first 11 months of 2024, the number of passengers carried by the company increased by 27% to a total of 20,578,324, against a 31.5% increase in ASKs and a 26.7% increase in RPKs, all compared with the same period for 2023.
“November was another solid month for our travel business,” said Cathay’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, Lavinia Lau. “Passenger volumes remained strong across our network and for the fourth time this year, Cathay Pacific carried more than two million passengers in a single month.”
“Travel demand was particularly robust on our routes to Japan and South Korea, driven by traffic from Hong Kong as well as Australia and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong was also a popular destination for travelers from Southeast Asia, where the school holidays drove increased leisure travel demand” Lau added.
“Our premium cabins continued to see good demand supported by return business traffic following the conclusion of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou early in the month. We also saw notable transit traffic via Hong Kong on our Riyadh service to and from regional ports, including the Chinese Mainland.”
Cargo
The airline carried 142,601 tonnes of cargo in November 2024, an increase of 15% compared with November 2023. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometers (RFTKs) increased 11.9% year on year. The cargo load factor increased by 1.2 percentage points to 62.3%, while available cargo tonne kilometers (AFTKs) increased by 9.8% year on year.
In the first 11 months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 10.9% to a total of 1,388,501 tonnes, against an 8.9% increase in AFTKs and a 4.8% increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.
“In terms of cargo, November tonnage was at similar levels to the previous month but was 15% higher year on year,” commented Lau. “We observed healthy market momentum during the peak season, particularly from Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area driven by e-commerce sales events.
“There was high demand for perishables from the Americas and Southwest Pacific, with significant deliveries to Hong Kong and other regional routes in Asia. Additionally, we observed an increase in the tonnage of our Cathay Expert solution due to the transportation of machinery and engines, especially from Japan. Our mail volumes also started to rise as we approached the festive season.
“November also saw the successful launch of our new marketing campaign for Cathay Courier following the special solution’s relaunch in July this year, with our first video showcasing our time-sensitive delivery capabilities.
Outlook
Looking ahead to 2025, the airline is feeling confident about what lies ahead as it finally recovers to pre-pandemic traffic levels.
“As a Group, we are pleased to have successfully completed our two-year rebuilding journey,” said Lau. “Together, Cathay Pacific and HK Express will reach 100% of pre-pandemic flights from January 2025. To support our rebuild, we have set a new record on the people front with around 7,000 new employees recruited and trained in 2024. Our overall Cathay Group headcount has now reached more than 30,000 people, including over 3,400 pilots across Cathay Pacific and HK Express.”
“We project that the two airlines will operate passenger services to 100 destinations around the world within 2025. [December 2024] saw Cathay Pacific add Cairns and HK Express add Phu Quoc, Hualien, and Shizuoka to our global network. For 2025, Cathay Pacific has already announced Hyderabad, Dallas, Munich, and Brussels, while HK Express has announced Sendai, with more new destinations still to come.”
“The Group projects a strong second-half financial result driven by elevated cargo demand and reduced fuel prices. This is partially offset by a continued normalization of passenger yields as the supply of flights increases to meet demand in the overall market as expected,” Lau concluded.