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Cathay Pacific releases bleak traffic figures for March 2021: -94%

By

 André Orban

 -

17 April 2021

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Cathay Pacific released its traffic figures for March 2021 that continued to reflect the airline’s substantial capacity reductions in response to significantly reduced demand as well as travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in place in Hong Kong and other markets amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 18,539 passengers last month, a decrease of 94% compared to March 2020. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) fell 95.7% year-on-year. Passenger load factor dropped by 28 percentage points to 21.2%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), decreased by 90%. In the first three months of 2021, the number of passengers carried dropped by 98.4% against a 91.7% decrease in capacity and a 98.2% decrease in RPKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.

The airline carried 83,329 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a decrease of 30.1% compared to March 2020. The month’s revenue freight tonne-kilometres (RFTKs) fell 32.4% year-on-year. The cargo and mail load factor increased by 8.9 percentage points to 86.4%, while capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 39.4%. In the first three months of 2021, the tonnage fell by 29.6% against a 39.6% drop in capacity and a 26.5% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.

Passenger

Cathay Pacific Group Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said: “Our passenger business continues to face significant challenges. With the tightened crew quarantine requirements in Hong Kong, we only managed to maintain a skeleton schedule in March, operating passenger services to just 18 destinations. That represented a capacity decline of 47% when compared with February. Average daily passenger numbers decreased even further to just 598, compared to 755 in February.

“We’ve seen positive demand for student travel to London so far in the first half of April and have been operating more frequent flights to cater to this demand. Meanwhile, we are supporting the operation of two special flights on 21 and 28 April, respectively, to bring Hong Kong residents home from the UK. We also welcome the Hong Kong SAR Government’s decision to lift the ban on flights from the UK starting early May and look forward to further relaxations as we move that little bit closer to the return of normal international travel.

“Additionally, the Government’s intention to lift the mandatory quarantine period for travellers from the Chinese mainland and reduce it for those arriving from low- and medium-risk places is a positive step in the right direction. We will remain agile and responsive in capturing any new travel demand available.”