Cathay Pacific and Dragonair April passenger volume up 4.1% to 2.26mn

Regional demand from Hong Kong surge behind Easter holiday while demand on North American and Southeast Asian routes remained robust.

Cathay Pacific Airways on Friday released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for April 2011 that show a year-on-year rise in passenger numbers alongside a drop in the passenger load factor, and a decrease in the amount of cargo and mail carried.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,258,004 passengers last month – up 4.1% on the same month last year – while the passenger load factor was down 3.6 percentage points to 80.3%. Capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 11.6%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried is up by 1.7% compared to a capacity rise of 10.1%

The two airlines carried 139,944 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an 8.4% decrease compared to the same month last year, while the cargo and mail load factor was down 11.0 percentage points to 68.3%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 13.4%, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown were down by 2.3%. For the year so far, tonnage has dropped by 0.3% compared to a capacity increase of 19.4%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Tom Owen said: "Demand on North American and Southeast Asian routes remained strong, and regional demand from Hong Kong was given a boost by the Easter holidays. The China network was solid, improving the quality of revenues on Dragonair, while Europe rebounded off the low base last year resulting from the airspace closures. Premium demand continued to be generally firm, benefitting from the Canton Fair. The continued slump on Japan routes remains a concern, with few signs yet of material pick-up.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing James Woodrow said: “Our key Hong Kong home market remained soft throughout April while demand out of the major manufacturing areas of China weakened further, particularly to Europe. However, once again the outbound weakness was offset to some extent by fairly robust demand into Asia. We reduced our freighter services on long-haul trunk routes in line with demand last month and will do the same in May as the markets stay quiet.”