Passenger load factor increased by 24.3 percentage points to 45.6%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), decreased by 32.5% year-on-year, and decreased by 98.2% compared with March 2019 levels. In the first three months of 2022, the number of passengers carried increased by 23.5% against a 66.1% decrease in capacity and a 1.2% increase in RPKs, as compared to the same period for 2021.
The airline carried 97,166 tonnes of cargo last month, an increase of 16.6% compared to March 2021, but a 47.5% decrease compared with the same period in 2019. The month’s cargo revenue tonne-kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 28.4% year-on-year and were down 65.6% compared to March 2019. The cargo load factor decreased by 4.9 percentage points to 81.5%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 24.1% year-on-year, and was down by 71.1% versus March 2019. In the first three months of 2022, the tonnage decreased by 13.8% against a 49.2% drop in capacity and a 50.3% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2021.
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said: “March was yet another very difficult month for our travel business. Passenger flight capacity remained extremely low at just under 2% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
“We relied heavily on ex-Hong Kong traffic throughout March as the bans on transit traffic at Hong Kong International Airport and on flights from nine countries remained in place during the month. We are very pleased that both restrictions were lifted on 1 April. Our first flight after the ban was lifted departed London on 31 March bringing 264 passengers home to Hong Kong the next day.
“In March, we also had to trim down our passenger flight capacity to the Chinese Mainland, and Shanghai in particular, in response to the city’s tightened anti-pandemic measures."
Follow this site here.
