February 2024: Cathay passengers increase 61.6% year on year

Cathay Pacific’s passenger statistics for February 2024 (totalling 1,801,174) detailed an increase of 61.6% customers flown compared to February 2023, highlighting ‘strong travel demand throughout the month, particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday period’. The South Asian, Middle Eastern and African markets saw the most significant rise on available revenue passenger kilometres, standing at 109.3% in the year to date. The single busiest day for the carrier was February 18, during which Cathay Pacific achieved a ‘significant milestone’ by carrying more than 70,000 passengers across a total of 272 sectors, the most on a single day since the start of the pandemic. “Demand from Hong Kong, the rest of the Greater Bay Area and the Chinese Mainland surged over the holiday period, especially on short-haul routes,” explained chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau, highlighting the load factors of 85% achieved over the Chinese New Year. Japan routes also benefitted from a “strong resurgence in bookings” following January’s devastating earthquakes. Cathay anticipates travel demand to progressively grow leading up to the Easter holidays, with business travel into Hong Kong further augmented by various exhibitions taking place in the city.