Cathay traffic surges in April
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2.52 million passengers in April – 11.7% more than the same month last year.
The result was driven by a strong rise of traffic on the carrier’s Northeast Asian routes, which jumped 42.5% year-on-year due to the major drop in traffic on Japanese routes in April 2011 following the Tohoku disasters.
Other regions also saw strong growth however, including Southeast Asia (+10.7%) and North America (+19.6%).
The airlines boosted available seat capacity 8.2% year-on-year, while average load factors climbed 2.8 percentage points to a strong 83.1%.
“Passenger volumes showed an increase compared to April 2011, though in the same month last year traffic to and from Japan was still being heavily affected by the earthquake and tsunami,” explained Cathay’s General Manager for Revenue Management, James Tong. “Regional traffic last month was boosted by additional Cathay Pacific and Dragonair frequencies. The biggest problem at the moment is yield, which continues to decline in all classes, especially Economy, while our business in the premium cabins is coming under increasing pressure.
“Looking forward, we will continue to manage capacity in line with demand, particularly on long-haul flights to Europe and Trans-Pacific. Fuel prices continue to be a major concern on these long-haul routes,” he added.
Year-to-date, Cathay and Dragonair have now carried 9.54 million passengers, up 9.7%, with load factors averaging 79.8%.