Cathay Pacific's carried passengers up12.4% in February

Thanks to the Chinese New Year holiday.

Cathay Pacific Airways recently released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for the February 2015 that show a double-digit increase in both the number of passengers carried and the volume of cargo and mail uplifted compared to the same month in 2014.

According to a release from Cathay Pacific, it and Dragonair carried a total of 2,675,549 passengers in February – an increase of 12.4% compared to the same month last year.

The passenger load factor grew by 3.0 percentage points to 84.9% while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 7.8%. In the first two months of the year, passenger traffic grew by 7.4% while capacity was up by 7.5%.

The two airlines carried 130,467 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 28.8% compared to the previous February. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 6.2 percentage points to 65.5%.

Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 25.6% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) flown climbed by 38.7%. In the first two months of the year, tonnage rose by 19.6% against a capacity increase of 16.0% and a 24.5% rise in RTKs.

Here's more from Cathay Pacific:

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Patricia Hwang said: “Passenger traffic
in February was boosted by the Chinese New Year holiday, which fell in January in the previous
year. It was a very strong peak in terms of leisure demand, with new daily and weekly passenger
uplift records set for both airlines.

The key routes this year were North Asia, and Japan in particular, and the major holiday destinations in Southeast Asia. Demand on the Southwest Pacific routes, to Australia and New Zealand, was robust throughout the month. While it helped to spur leisure traffic, the holiday period led to a dip in demand in the premium cabins.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: “The high-year-on-year tonnage growth reflects the overall improvement in the world’s air cargo markets compared to early 2014, along with the extra capacity added by Cathay Pacific in response to the increase in demand.

February’s figures were spurred by a surge in exports prior to Mainland factories shutting down for the Chinese New Year holidays. Demand fell away over the holiday period, a expected, but saw quite a rapid pick-up, particularly on the North American lanes.”