Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has recorded a 15 per cent year-on-year increase in the passenger traffic, exceeding 2 million in July, amid robust demand from those travelling to Paris for the Olympic Games.
The airline said on Friday that July was a “milestone month” with 2,008,225 passengers, the first time the airline hit more than 2 million in a single month since the pandemic.
Lavinia Lau Hoi-zee, Cathay’s chief customer and commercial officer, said such robust demand was driven by the increased popularity of long-haul flights to and from Hong Kong in the first half of the month, among students and those visiting friends and relatives.
“In addition, we saw strong demand for flights to Paris due to the Olympic Games, and we were delighted to carry a significant number of athletes and spectators to attend this momentous sporting occasion,” she said.
Lau also highlighted the increase in travel to popular short-haul destinations in Japan and Southeast Asia during the latter half of July.
In total, Cathay carried 12,667,826 passengers in the first seven months of this year, a 32.5 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2023.
Cargo demand remained strong in July for Cathay. It carried 126,797 tonnes of cargo in July, up by 9.6 per cent from the same month of last year.
She noted “an uptick in perishable goods shipments from Southeast Asia and the South West Pacific” into Hong Kong and mainland China as well as increased tonnage through the carrier using the dedicated freighters for project shipments and outsize cargo.
She added that e-commerce shipments continued to be the main driver of volumes from the Greater Bay Area, which links Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities.
“Looking ahead, we expect that the robust travel demand seen in July will continue through August, while September will receive a boost from students returning to the United Kingdom ahead of the new school year,” Lau said.
“Concerning cargo, we expect that demand will remain at healthy levels as we head towards what we anticipate will be a strong peak from September until the end of the year end,” she added.
