Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for December 2023. In the full year of 2023, the Cathay Group, comprising Cathay Pacific and HK Express, surpassed the milestone of carrying more than 20 million passengers, which compares with about three million passengers carried for the whole of 2022.

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 1,779,457 passengers in December 2023, an increase of 122.1% compared with December 2022. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 89.3% year on year. Passenger load factor decreased by 2 percentage points to 81.2%, while available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 94% year on year. In the full year of 2023, the number of passengers carried increased by 541.5% against a 326.8% increase in ASKs and a 396.8% increase in RPKs, as compared with 2022.

The airline carried 128,546 tonnes of cargo in December 2023, an increase of 20.7% compared with December 2022. The month’s cargo revenue tonnes kilometres (RFTKs) increased 14.1% year on year. The cargo load factor decreased by 6.5 percentage points to 60.8%, while available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 26.3% year on year. In the full year of 2023, the tonnage increased by 19.6% against a 59.7% increase in AFTKs and a 40.3% increase in RFTKs, as compared with 2022.

“As a Group, we made significant progress in our rebuild journey in 2023. As we look ahead to 2024, we remain committed to working towards fully rebuilding our flights, with the aim of delivering the high-quality and reliable services that Hong Kong deserves. Despite the ongoing challenges that are affecting the entire global aviation industry, we are prepared to face them, as always, with determination.

“Our cargo business performed well in December, and finished on a high, primarily driven by the strong year-end demand for e-commerce products. Additionally, there was increased demand for perishable goods for the holiday season. December also saw a pickup in our Live Animal solutions with significant numbers of racehorses being moved across our network in support of the Hong Kong international race events.

“In total, we carried almost 1.4 million tonnes of air cargo throughout 2023, compared with about 1.2 million tonnes in 2022, which was an encouraging result.

“In terms of cargo, we expect demand to steadily pick up from the second half of the month with the e-commerce demand on the Americas and European lanes remaining solid and local demand strengthening up to the Lunar New Year holidays.”