Cathay Pacific releases April 2004 traffic figures

Cathay Pacific Airways today released traffic figures for April 2004 that show continued growth in the airline's passenger and cargo operations.

In April, the airline carried 1,099,183 passengers, up from 1,036,623 in March. First and Business Class sales were supported by a rebounding world economy and leisure travel out of Hong Kong saw an up-tick during the back-to-back long weekend holidays over Easter and Ching Ming. April's passenger load factor averaged 77 percent, up from 73.6 percent in March.

Cargo volumes eased slightly to 76,992 tonnes from a record 89,640 tonnes in March due to long holidays in China and Japan, when many businesses closed. April's cargo load factor was 69.8 percent, down from 73 percent in March. 

Comparing the airline's current performance with that of last year is difficult because business in 2003 was so heavily affected by SARS. However, cumulative figures for the first four months show that, on average, the airline carried more than one million passengers and more than 78,000 tonnes of cargo each month. These figures are higher than those for the same four-month period in 2002, a very good year.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: "The holidays and strong First and Business Class sales created another record April for passenger revenue. Yet the addition of more long-haul services, which on a per-kilometre basis tend to generate less money than short-haul ones, meant that revenue growth compared with April 2002 did not quite keep pace with the increase in capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres, or ASK."

Cathay Pacific Director Sales & Marketing James Barrington said: "After a bumper March, cargo volumes eased a little with the advent of the Labour Day in China and Golden Week in Japan, long holidays in two major markets. Yet both areas are back to strength again. Cargo shipments ex-Hong Kong remained robust, and the inbound cargo load factor from North America increased during April as well."