Cathay Pacific's passenger load factor fell 1.3% in January

Performance slid due to booking cancellations amidst COVID-19.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon saw its passenger load factor fall 1.3 percentage points (ppt) YoY to 84.7% in January, according to a press release.

Likewise, the number of passengers for the month dropped 3.8% to around 3 million passengers.

Meanwhile, capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), also dipped by 0.3%.

The two airlines carried 151,964 tonnes of cargo and mail in January, a 8.9% drop compared to the same month in 2019. The cargo and mail load factor declined by 1.4 ppt to 60.2%.

Capacity was down by 3.2%, whilst cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased by 5.4%.

The company said that passenger traffic volume was satisfactory through the first three weeks of January. However, performance saw a rapid deterioration in the last week of the month due to booking cancellations over the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cathay Pacific has reduced its overall passenger flight by approximately 40% for the month of February and March. The company said that passenger capacity reduction is also likely for April.