Cathay Pacific, Dragonair passenger load factor edged up to 83.4%

Passenger count also up 6.7%.

According to a release, Cathay Pacific Airways released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for March 2013 that show an increase in the number of passengers carried compared to the same month in 2012, alongside a decrease in cargo and mail tonnage.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,550,108 passengers in March – an increase of 6.7% compared to the same month last year.

The passenger load factor climbed by 4.0 percentage points to 83.4%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), fell by 6.6%. In the first quarter of 2013, the number of passengers carried showed a 2.8% increase against a capacity decline of 6.4%.

The two airlines carried 136,504 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 5.3% compared to March 2012. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 1.9 percentage points to 66.4%.

Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, declined by 8.3%, while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres were down by 10.8%. In the first quarter of 2013, the tonnage drop of 1.4% compared to a 4.8% capacity decrease.