Cathay Pacific profits jump 20% in 2014
Guest Writers are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the specific writer directly
The Cathay Pacific Group has posted a strong set of full-year financial results for 2014, with profits rising 20%.
The Hong Kong-based company generated profits of HK$3.15 billion (US$405.7 million) last year, up 20.2% compared with 2013, driven by a 5.5% rise in revenues, to HK$105.99bn. Passenger revenues for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair increased 5.4% to HK$75.73bn, following a 5.5% increase in passenger numbers, to 31.57m.
The airline’s average load factors increased by 1.1 percentage points to 83.3% and the number of flights operated by the two airlines climbed 5.0% to 75,451.
“It was encouraging to see an overall improvement in our business in 2014. That improvement has continued in the first quarter of this year and we are positive about the overall prospects for 2015,” said Cathay Pacific’s chairman, John Slosar. “While we face growing competition in our passenger business, which makes it harder to maintain yield, overall demand remains strong and the outlook is positive.
“The group’s financial position remains strong, which will enable us to continue with our long-term strategic investment in the business and our commitment to reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as one of the world’s premier aviation hubs,” he added.
Cathay expanded its network in 2014, adding new routes to Doha, Manchester and Newark, and increasing the frequency of its Los Angeles service. This growth will continue this year with the launch of new passenger services to Zurich, Boston and Dusseldorf in March, May and September 2015 respectively, and the addition of more San Francisco flights in June.
The group also took delivery of 16 new aircraft in 2014: nine Boeing 777-300ERs, five Airbus A330-300 aircraft and, for Dragonair, two Airbus A321s. A further nine aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2015.
Comments are closed.