Cathay Pacific releases August 2003 traffic figures

Cathay Pacific Airways today released traffic figures for August 2003 that highlight the continued recovery in its passenger numbers over the summer months. However, the month’s passenger total was still down on the figure for the same month a year ago.

In August 2003 Cathay Pacific carried 1,083,011 passengers, a 23.9 percent rise over the previous month but a drop of 5.3 percent from August 2002. The passenger load factor increased by 3.2 percentage points year-on-year to 85.3 percent, although the airline was only running at 90 percent capacity during the month.

A total of 70,452 tonnes of freight was carried in August - a 5.1 percent drop on the same month in 2002 though a gain on the July 2003 total of 67,340 tonnes. The cargo load factor was 63.4 percent in August, a drop of 4.2 percentage points over last year.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: “We are very heartened by the growth in passenger numbers in August, which was helped by a rush of people taking summer holidays after SARS. However, while load factors were good, yield was still dampened in August as many passengers continued to travel on heavily discounted tickets. Indications are that yield will improve in September as special promotions tail off and front-end demand picks up.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Kenny Tang said: “The amount of freight carried in August was down on the same month last year but we are encouraged by the month-on-month growth in cargo traffic over the summer. We can see a further pick up in demand in September and we’ll be in a good position to take advantage of this.”