Cathay Pacific has projected “strong” second-half results for 2025, driven by “increased capacity, solid passenger load factors and resilient cargo demand”.
However, this will be “partially offset” by losses at low-cost subsidiary HK Express, mainly due to various factors that negatively impacted travel demand to Japan, Cathay Group said today (December 22).
Results from the Group’s associates, most of which are recorded three months in arrears, are expected to improve in the second half of 2025 compared with the first half.
Additionally, second half-results will include around HK$0.9bn ($115.6 million) in other income as a result of a non-recurring gain on a supplier settlement agreement.
“The second half of the year has historically been the stronger of the two halves for the group and this has been the case this year as it was in 2024,” the airline group said. “Overall, the group's full-year consolidated financial result is expected to exceed last year's performance.”
Last year, Cathay Pacific's profit increased by 1% to HK$9.9bn ($1.58bn), boosted by its second-half performance. This was driven by higher cargo demand and passenger volumes, as well as lower fuel costs and improved efficiency.
Revenue rose 10.5% to HK$104.3bn ($13.4bn), with passenger revenue up 11.9% to HK$62.5bn ($8.04bn) and cargo revenue increasing 8.3% to HK$24bn ($3.08bn).
The airline group posted its traffic figures for November 2025.
“In November, we continued to expand the Group’s global network. Cathay Pacific launched daily flights to Changsha and a seasonal service to Adelaide, while HK Express introduced daily flights to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah),” said Cathay chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau.
“As a Group, we have launched flights to 20 destinations this year, reaching a total of 103 destinations worldwide."
Cathay Pacific carried 26% more passengers during November compared to the same period last year, reaching 2.5 million passengers.
Additionally, capacity was up 21.8% and revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) were up 27%. The airline's load factor was up 3.5 percentage points to 87%. This is the airline's highest load factor in the past two years.
“We saw robust demand on our Northeast Asia routes, fuelled by travellers from Hong Kong as well as key markets in Europe and Southeast Asia," said Lau. "Our seasonal services to Adelaide and Christchurch were also well received, supported by solid transit traffic."
For the first 11 months of the year, the airline carried 26.1 million passengers, up 27%. Load factor averaged at 85.2%, up 2.2 percentage points. During the period, capacity was up 26.1% and 29.4% in the first 11 months of 2025.
“The outlook for the Christmas travel peak remains strong, with destinations in Northeast Asia being the most popular among customers in our home market,” said Lau.
She added that demand for Cathay Pacific flights during the Lunar New Year holiday is “promising”, particularly from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
HK Express also reported a 27.1% increase in passengers during November, reaching 639,120. Load factor was up 5.8 percentage points to 83.4%. Capacity and RPKs were up 17.5% and 26.4%, respectively.
For the first 11 months of the year, HK Express carried 7.1 million passengers, up 30.4%. Capacity and RPKs were up 33.4% and 26%, respectively. However, passenger load factor fell 4.7 percentage points to 78.9% during the 11-month period.
“For December, advance bookings across [HK Express'] network remain healthy,” said Lau.
The airline's cargo division carried 10% more cargo in November 2025 compared to the same month in 2024. Available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 7%.
This was driven by “solid exports” from its home market and the Chinese mainland, alongside growth in its Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, and Africa routes.
“We are seeing a robust air cargo peak that is expected to continue into December,” said Lau. “While we will begin scaling back our peak-season freighter schedule from the middle of the month as overall demand starts to ease, core demand on our key trade lanes is expected to hold up well.”
For the first 11 months of 2025, Cathay Cargo's total tonnage increased by 10%. AFTKs were up 8.3%, though cargo load factor was down 0.9 percentage points, averaging at 58.8%.