Cathay Pacific releases July 2024 traffic report

Cathay Pacific released its July 2024 traffic figures, showing how the airline achieved a new milestone by carrying over two million passengers in a single month for the first time since the pandemic. 

In July, the airline carried a total of 2,008,225 passengers, marking an increase of 15.1 percent from July 2023. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 16.1 percent year on year. 

According to Cathay Pacific chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau: “Such robust demand was driven by the increased popularity of long-haul flights to and from Hong Kong in the first half of the month among students and those visiting friends and relatives. This was followed by a surge in demand for travel to popular short-haul destinations in Japan and Southeast Asia in the second half of July.”

Lau added that they also noted a strong demand for flights to Paris due to the Olympic Games, and that Cathay Pacific carried a significant number of athletes and spectators to attend the world’s paramount sporting event.

However, passenger load factor decreased by 3.8 percentage points to 85.5 percent, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 21.2 percent year on year. 

In the first seven months of 2024, the number of passengers carried increased by 32.5 percent, totalling 12,667,826, against a 39 percent increase in ASKs and a 31.6 percent increase in RPKs, as compared with the same period for 2023. 

Cargo in July 2024

Cathay Pacific carried 126,797 tonnes of cargo in July, up by 9.6 percent compared with what was seen during the same period last year. 

The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 0.5 percent year on year, while its cargo load factor decreased by 1.5 percentage points to 58.3 percent.

Available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) rose by 2.1% year on year. 

In the first seven months of 2024, the tonnage increased by 10.3 percent to a total of 846,261 tonnes, against a 9.9 percent increase in AFTKs and a 3.8 percent increase in RFTKs, as compared with the same period for 2023.