Cathay Pacific, Dragonair passenger traffic climbed 5.3% to 2.533m

Passenger load factor also up to 81.5%.

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for October 2013 that show an increase in both passengers carried and passenger capacity, alongside a small year-on-year drop in cargo and mail tonnage.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,533,066 passengers in October – an increase of 5.3% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor was up 3.2 percentage points to 81.5%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 1.9%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried has increased by 3.2% against a capacity drop of 2.8%.

The two airlines carried 137,300 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 0.9% compared to October 2012. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 2.4 percentage points to 61.6%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 4.0% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres were the same as in October last year. For the year to date, tonnage has fallen by 1.8% compared to a 0.9% capacity increase.