Top level leadership changes at Cathay Pacific

Augustus Tang to retire and Ronald Lam appointed Chief Executive Officer from 1 January 2023

The Cathay Pacific Group today announced a number of senior management appointments, effective over the next few months.

Augustus Tang, Chief Executive Officer, will retire from the Cathay Pacific Group on 31 December 2022. He will assume a new role at John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd. effective 1 January 2023.

Ronald Lam, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, will be appointed Chief Executive Officer effective 1 January 2023. He will continue to serve as Chair of HK Express. ​ Mr Lam joined the Cathay Pacific Group as a Management Trainee in 1996 and has since held a number of senior leadership roles in Hong Kong and overseas including Director Commercial & Cargo at Cathay Pacific, Director and GM Hong Kong Operations at Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (HAECO) and Chief Executive Officer of HK Express.

Lavinia Lau, Director of Customer Travel, will be appointed Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, replacing Mr Lam, and will also be appointed Executive Director on the Board of Cathay Pacific effective 1 January 2023. Lavinia Lau has been Director of Customer Travel, leading the Customer Travel business line that is accountable for the customer travel experience design, as well as the passenger commercial functions for Cathay Pacific, since 2021. Ms Lau joined the Swire Group as a Management Trainee in 1992 and has since held a number of senior leadership positions at Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong including General Manager Sales, Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong, and General Manager Planning. Ms Lau is Chair of The Board of Airline Representatives in Hong Kong (BAR) and Board member of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).

Greg Hughes, Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer since June 2017, will retire from the Swire Group after 36 years of service in 2023.

Alex McGowan, Director of Service Delivery, will be appointed Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer and also Executive Director on the Board of Cathay Pacific effective 1 April 2023 upon Mr Hughes’ retirement from the Board. ​ Mr McGowan will also be appointed Chair of Cathay Pacific’s wholly owned all-cargo airline, Air Hong Kong, replacing Mr Hughes.  Alex McGowan has been Director Service Delivery, leading and supporting the global teams who provide Cathay Pacific’s customer experience inflight and on the ground, since 2020. In addition, he oversees the Cathay Pacific Group’s passenger service subsidiaries including Cathay Pacific Catering Services (H.K.) Limited, Hong Kong Airport Services Limited, Vogue Laundry Service Limited, and Shanghai International Airport Services Co., Limited. Mr. McGowan joined the Cathay Pacific Group in 2005 and has held various senior leadership positions including General Manager Aircrew and General Manager Strategic Transformation. Prior to joining Cathay Pacific, he worked for an international airline based in London and a technology startup in Seattle.

Introducing Cathay Pharma: a refreshed temperature-sensitive solution for a post-pandemic world

Cathay Pacific Cargo has taken recent innovations and staff expertise to enhance customer options for life-science shipments.

Cathay Pacific Cargo is consolidating and refreshing its comprehensive solution for pharmaceutical customers under a new name, Cathay Pharma, and making it easier to identify all of the possible options for pharma shipments in a more streamlined way.

The refresh follows several busy years in which Cathay Pacific Cargo has brought its innovation and expertise to meet the evolving needs of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. This has resulted in advances including Ultra Track, the Vaccine Solution and a revamped Priority solution.

Director Cargo Tom Owen said: “With these developments, we felt this was the ideal time to refresh our specialist shipment solution for our pharmaceutical customers. We understand all too well the potential costs in lives and dollars if pharmaceutical shipments don’t arrive in perfect condition, and want to ensure that we continuously improve and adapt to industry trends and developments as they happen.”

Greater choice and a market-leading offering

Cathay Pharma is subdivided under two simplified headings – Active and Passive. The Active solution uses ‘active’ containers with thermostatic mechanisms, while Passive uses passive coolants and insulation to maintain temperature. Bookings made under both Active and Passive include expedient ground handling and priority tarmac transfers, to limit the risk of temperature excursions while shipments are exposed to ambient outdoor temperatures.

Cathay Pharma offers four transportation temperature ranges to suit the most common types of pharma shipments, including ERT – extended room temperature: +2°C to +25°C – which is newly available in response to industry demand from customers. Cathay Pacific Cargo offers containers from seven supplier partners able to achieve specific temperatures in an operating range from as low as -80°C to +40°C. This has created the widest choice in Asia for pharma customers.

The signature track-and-trace service and en-route mitigation – Ultra Track and the Operations Control Centre (OCC)

The Cathay Pacific Group expects to reach pre-pandemic capacity levels by end of 2024.......

The Cathay Pacific Group expects to resume 70% of pre-COVID passenger capacity levels by end of 2023

Group aims to reach pre-pandemic capacity levels by end of 2024; will add about 3,000 flights and reach one-third capacity by end of 2022

The Cathay Pacific Group – comprising passenger airlines Cathay Pacific and HK Express – is committed to restoring passenger capacity and connectivity in the Hong Kong aviation hub to serve the needs of the Hong Kong and international travel markets. It anticipates that the Group will be operating around 70% of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2023 with an aim to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, ahead of the Asia-Pacific traffic forecast issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Following the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government’s recent adjustments to anti-pandemic measures for travellers and aircrew entering Hong Kong, the Group has already announced the addition of about 3,000 passenger flight sectors from October until the end of December this year.

Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “The Group is on track to achieve its target of operating up to one-third of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity levels by the end of 2022. This represents a doubling of the capacity that we offered in August and is approximately eight times the average capacity the airline operated in the first half of 2022.

“As the COVID-19 situation eases, airlines around the world have been rebuilding their capacity. This requires the global aviation ecosystem, including airports, suppliers and our own airlines, to undertake a substantial amount of preparation with regards to crew and ground employees, aircraft reactivation and recruitment. This is a challenge faced by airlines, industry suppliers and airports around the world and one which takes time and robust planning to overcome.

“We are taking a measured and responsible approach to managing our own road to recovery, with a need to address challenges that are unique to Hong Kong. The city’s borders were closed for much longer than other markets and importantly, aircrew in Hong Kong were uniquely under quarantine constraints that weren’t lifted until September. Despite all this, our recovery trajectory is in line with other carriers that don’t benefit from a domestic market in terms of the time taken since borders began to open.

“Importantly, we have sufficient pilots, cabin crew and operational employees to support our current flight schedules, and we are confident that our ongoing recruitment plans will ensure this remains the case throughout the recovery. The short-term bottlenecks lie in the recertification of pilots who have not been flying regularly for a long period of time and the reactivation of aircraft. We have been bolstering our capabilities to expedite this process.”

The Cathay Pacific Group remains confident about the long-term prospects for the aviation sector in Hong Kong, as it looks forward to the complete removal of all travel constraints by the HKSAR Government to facilitate the full resumption of travel activities both to and from Hong Kong that can enhance the city’s hub connectivity.

Mr Tang added: “Under the 14th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong has an important role to play in the overall development of the country. Notably, the Plan reinforces the importance of strengthening Hong Kong as an international aviation hub. As we continue to increase our passenger flight capacity, we also look forward to the completion of the Three Runway System at Hong Kong International Airport in 2024 which remains pivotal to the long-term future of the hub.

Buy One, Get One Tree!......................Cathay Pacific to plant mangrove trees across Southeast Asia

Buy One, Get One Tree!

Cathay Pacific to plant mangrove trees across Southeast Asia

 Cathay Pacific today shared the next development of its 1 Ticket, 1 Tree initiative, with the announcement of a Southeast Asia-wide initiative that will see trees planted in various mangrove forests (​​​​​​located in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam) across the region.

The initiative, announced at a tree-planting event organised by Cathay Pacific at the Taman Wisata Alam Mangrove, Angke Kapuk, Indonesia, will see the airline plant a tree for every ticket purchased on its website from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, from 1 to 30 November 2022. This is part of Cathay Pacific’s sustainability efforts in supporting local communities, ecological restoration, and climate resilience. 

1 Ticket, 1 Tree was launched last year in Thailand, one of Cathay Pacific’s key destinations in Southeast Asia. A similar initiative, Join For Trees, was rolled out earlier this year in Indonesia and the Philippines, where the airline committed to plant a tree for every new member sign-up.

With both these efforts combined, Cathay Pacific has committed to plant more than 1,700 trees in the mangrove forests of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Today, About 50 volunteers comprising Cathay Pacific employees, trade agents and other partners came together at Taman Wisata Alam Mangrove to plant saplings to kick start this year’s initiative.

With 1 Ticket, 1 Tree covering more countries this year, Cathay Pacific hopes to plant significantly more trees this year than last. “This initiative underscores our commitment to our customers in Southeast Asia,” Dominic Perret, Regional General Manager, Southeast Asia and Southwest Pacific, said at the planting event. "1 Ticket, 1 Tree is in line with our broader sustainability efforts, which include contributing purposefully to the communities we serve. We embarked on this tree-planting effort because many of our communities in Southeast Asia depend on mangroves for food, protection and income. As always, we strive to make a meaningful impact, both in service and sustainability.”

For more information on 1 Ticket, 1 Tree, please visit:  

Singapore – Malaysia – Indonesia – Philippines – Cambodia – Thailand – Vietnam

Cathay launches advanced conversational AI powered by Fano Labs to enhance customers’ digital experience

Cathay is enhancing its customers’ digital experience with the launch of an advanced conversational artificial intelligence (AI) in partnership with Fano Labs, a Hong Kong-based language AI company.

As part of its purpose to move people forward in life, Cathay is continuously pursuing the development of new technologies that enable it to give customers more choice and control over their journeys, whether on the ground, in the air or on digital channels.

In recent years, this has included the introduction of AI chatbots that enable passengers and cargo customers to receive immediate responses to their queries, ranging from checking flight status, to booking changes and online shopping.

New conversational AI will enable the company’s chatbots to provide more accurate responses to customers’ queries

Under the airline’s conversational AI roadmap, Cathay is optimising its digital customer experience even further with the most cutting-edge language AI technologies. The new conversational AI developed in partnership with Fano Labs will improve the efficiency and productivity of the airline’s AI chatbots, enabling them to provide more accurate responses to customers’ queries.

As demand for travel returns, Cathay is anticipating an increase in the volume of call and chat traffic, with post-Covid travel enquiries already growing rapidly in the past few months. The airline has also seen a shift in customer behaviours, turning from traditional hotlines to digital channels such as WhatsApp and WeChat for more instant responses. Digital channel usage has experienced monthly growth of 10-20% over recent months, as Cathay continues to add back more flight capacity.

To build an AI chatbot that provides a superior digital experience for customers, the most important yet challenging task is to find large volumes of high-quality data to train the chatbot so that it can understand what people are asking, and why, to provide proper responses. Such chatbot training is often time consuming and expensive, requiring human “AI Trainers” to look at historical data to see how customers interacted with the chatbot, manually extract, clean, and annotate useful portions of this historical data, and then feed it back into the chatbot for learning.

Enjoy an elevated membership experience with Cathay

Bringing together the best of Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles under one membership

Cathay is delighted to announce that from today, members can enjoy the best of Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles under one Cathay membership programme. Members will have more options to earn and redeem Asia Miles and Status Points – formerly known as Marco Polo Club Points – to unlock even more exclusive privileges when travelling or spending with Cathay.

Under the elevated membership programme, members will continue to enjoy the travel awards they value most while being able to explore the full potential of Cathay through curated lifestyle offerings and experiences. Cathay has been expanding its lifestyle offerings in payment, dining, shopping, holidays and wellness, and currently has over 800 partners to provide unique experiences for members (offerings may differ by market). In the coming few months, exclusive travel and lifestyle offers and experiences will be rolled out just for Cathay members.

Director Customer Lifestyle Paul Smitton said: “As a home-grown airline from Hong Kong, we have been connecting our home city to the world and have grown together with our members for more than 75 years. Our world has evolved in the past few years, with changing expectations for travel and lifestyle. We continue to listen to our members and to invest in new experiences to help them move forward in life.

Cathay Pacific releases traffic figures for August 2022

Cathay Pacific has just released its traffic figures for August 2022. The airline’s traffic figures continued to reflect the positive impact of further adjustments to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, notably the mandatory hotel quarantine arrangement for inbound travellers.

Cathay Pacific has just released its traffic figures for August 2022. Photo Cathay 

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 253,907 passengers last month, an increase of 87.6% compared to August 2021, but a 91.3% decrease compared to the pre-pandemic level in August 2019. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 82.7% year-on-year, but were down 86.1% versus August 2019. Passenger load factor increased by 22.2 percentage points to 68.6%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 23.5% year-on-year, but decreased by 83.8% compared with August 2019 levels. In the first eight months of 2022, the number of passengers carried increased by 133.5% against a 1.6% increase in capacity and a 141.9% increase in RPKs, as compared to the same period for 2021.

The airline carried 104,851 tonnes of cargo last month, a decrease of 15.6% compared to August 2021, and a 35% decrease compared with the same period in 2019. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 23.3% year-on-year, and were down 35.1% compared to August 2019. The cargo load factor decreased by 10.7 percentage points to 67%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 11.1% year-on-year, and was down by 41.1% versus August 2019. In the first eight months of 2022, the tonnage decreased by 8% against a 25.4% drop in capacity and a 32.4% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2021.

 

Travel

Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said: “We continued to see improved performance in our travel business in August. Average daily passenger numbers further increased month on month and exceeded 8,000. Passenger flight capacity increased 28% compared with July, although we still only operated about 16% of pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, load factor remained high at close to 69%.

“Following the Hong Kong SAR Government’s adjustment to the hotel quarantine arrangement for travellers entering Hong Kong from 12 August, we observed an increase in inbound traffic to our home hub. This was particularly so for long-haul traffic from the US, Canada and Europe. Meanwhile, our passenger flight capacity to the Chinese Mainland remained restricted, although we were able to resume carrying passengers to Zhengzhou, Qingdao and Xiamen in August.

“Student traffic from the Chinese Mainland to the US represented a significant portion of our passenger traffic last month. On top of our existing services to New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, we resumed flights to Chicago and Boston in August for the first time this year to cater to the strong demand. As a result, our US-bound flights managed 80% load factors. Apart from student traffic, our US routes were also boosted in the other direction by transit traffic travelling to Southeast Asia, the result of greater connectivity from increased flight frequency.

 

Cathay Pacific to adds flights for October....

Photo Cathay Pacific 

Cathay Pacific welcomes the Hong Kong SAR Government’s latest measures to facilitate travel to Hong Kong, especially the decision to remove the hotel quarantine arrangement for passengers arriving in Hong Kong effective 26 September 2022. These adjustments will help boost sentiment for travel, thereby facilitating the gradual resumption of travel activities and strengthening of network connectivity to, from and through the Hong Kong aviation hub.

We intend to add more than 200 pairs of passenger flights in October to both regional and long-haul destinations. In view of Japan’s relaxation of travel restrictions for inbound visitors, Cathay Pacific will resume daily flights to Tokyo (Haneda) from 1 November and four-times-weekly flights to Sapporo from 1 December. We will also increase flight frequencies to Tokyo (Narita) to 43 pairs and Osaka to 50 pairs in October.

As Hong Kong’s home airline, we are fully committed to rebuilding the connectivity of the Hong Kong aviation hub. While we will continue to add back more flights as quickly as is feasible, it will take time to rebuild our capacity gradually.

Cathay Pacific to purchase 38 million US gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Aemetis

Marking another step towards meeting the airline’s 10% SAF usage target by 2030

Cathay Pacific to purchase 38 million US gallons of Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Aemetis Photo Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific announced this week the signing of an offtake agreement with Aemetis for the supply of 38 million US gallons of blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to be delivered over seven years beginning in 2025 from San Francisco International Airport. 

The SAF purchased can reduce more than 80,000 tonnes of lifecycle carbon emissions, equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by more than 1.3 million tree seedlings grown for 10 years. The agreement is also part of the joint procurement initiative for SAF by the oneworld alliance, of which Cathay Pacific is a founding member.   

Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “Cathay Pacific continues to reaffirm its commitment to addressing climate change despite these challenging times. In the past few years, we have announced our carbon net-zero by 2050 target and our goal of achieving 10% use of SAF by 2030. In doing this, we have built a robust SAF procurement strategy to help meet our goals. We are pleased that this agreement with Aemetis will contribute to that effort, and we hope it will also send the right signal to the SAF industry to encourage the much-needed investment and scaling up of its supply chain.”

The blended SAF to be supplied under this agreement is 40% SAF and 60% Petroleum Jet A-1 fuel to meet international blending standards. The SAF will be produced at the Aemetis Carbon Zero plant currently under development in Riverbank, California. The facility will use waste wood to produce cellulosic hydrogen, and combine it with wastes and non-edible sustainable oils. It will then be converted into SAF using carbon-neutral hydroelectricity.  It is scheduled to begin deliveries to Cathay Pacific in 2025.

How important is sustainability for Cathay Pacific?

Cathay Pacific commits to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.  Photo Cathay Pacific

Azim Norazmi, Climate Change & SAF Manager, Cathay Pacific tells us how important sustainability is for Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and what steps the carrier has already taken to reach as it reaches for massive reductions on emissions. Azim is a sustainability specialist with more than 9 years of combined working experience within the Aerospace and Aviation industry.

1. How important is sustainability for Cathay Pacific?

As an airline, we take our responsibility to protect the environment and work for sustainable development seriously. We are committed to a carbon-neutral future, and we are ramping up our efforts to fight climate change with strong sustainability practices, which guide our operations, and resourcing. We are also dedicated to serving our communities, both in Hong Kong and across the globe, and protecting the natural habitat from exploitation. 

2. What concrete steps has the company taken?

There are many examples of concrete steps taken by Cathay Pacific. In 2020, we were among the first airlines in Asia to commit to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This has led to further commitments to using 10% SAF by 2030 and achieving a 55% of reduction from our absolute ground emissions from the 2018 baseline, by 2035. This aligns with the aims of the Paris Agreement. It’s a significant step on our sustainable development journey and coalesces our existing efforts in fuel efficiency, SAF, carbon offsetting and emissions reduction around a common goal.

Beyond making commitments, we have also implemented actions within our operations to help us achieve our sustainability goals. By using a digitised inflight manual, we’ve replaced as much as 75kg of paper on each flight, thus decreasing emissions by more than 4,000 tonnes CO2 emissions per year based - emissions equivalent to more than 5,000 flights from Hong Kong to London. In addition, we also continue to reduce SUP in our flight operations. We have pledged to remove 50% of our SUP consumption by the end of 2022 from a 2018 baseline. To date, we have removed about 43 million pieces of SUP items from our annual usage baseline. 

3. How do you see the role of SAF for Cathay Pacific going forward?

Cathay Pacific and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University sign Cadet Pilot programme agreement

Cultivating the next generation of pilots and building Hong Kong as a hub for aviation training

Cathay Pacific and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have just signed a three-year agreement to collaborate on a new integrated course for Cathay Pacific’s Cadet Pilot training programme that will cultivate local aviation industry talent and develop Hong Kong as a hub for aviation training.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang and PolyU Council Chairman Dr Lam Tai-fai welcomed Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mr Lam Sai-hung as the guest of honour at the signing ceremony, which took place at Cathay Pacific’s headquarters, Cathay City. Assistant Director-General of Civil Aviation (Flight Standards) Ms Clara Wong from the Civil Aviation Department was also in attendance.

The Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mr Lam Sai-hung said today's signing ceremony was very meaningful as it marked a milestone in Hong Kong's aviation industry. The Cadet Pilot training programme would not only groom more pilots for Hong Kong, but it also marked the first time that aviation theory courses would be taught by a local institution, writing a new chapter in Hong Kong's aviation history and enriching the variety of aviation professional training in the city.          

Cathay Pacific Cargo introduces Fly Greener, the carbon-offset programme for air freight

The programme’s carbon emissions calculator makes offsetting emissions easy and funds Gold Standard carbon-reduction projects with a social component

 Cathay Pacific is taking the lead in aviation’s sustainability efforts in Asia with the extension of Fly Greener to its air cargo services. Fly Greener is a carbon-offset programme powered by an integrated carbon emissions calculator, as part of the airline’s commitment to tackling climate change by achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The new carbon emissions calculator works out the carbon emissions of shipments and the cost to offset them in just a couple of simple steps. Customers can then make a contribution to purchase carbon offsets that come from carefully selected carbon-offset projects. All selected projects are certified under the Gold Standard to ensure their carbon reductions are verified, and come with societal and developmental benefits.

The carbon-offset programme follows the launch earlier this year of Cathay Pacific’s Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme, which brings SAF into Hong Kong International Airport for the first time in history. It provides corporate customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint from business travel and air cargo shipments by contributing to the use of SAF. Cathay Pacific was also among the first carriers in the world to announce a target of 10% SAF in its total fuel use by 2030.

Bringing together the best of Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles under one membership.......

Cathay is delighted to announce that from today, members can enjoy the best of Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles under one Cathay membership programme. Members will have more options to earn and redeem Asia Miles and Status Points – formerly known as Marco Polo Club Points – to unlock even more exclusive privileges when travelling or spending with Cathay.

Under the elevated membership programme, members will continue to enjoy the travel awards they value most while being able to explore the full potential of Cathay through curated lifestyle offerings and experiences. Cathay has been expanding its lifestyle offerings in payment, dining, shopping, holidays and wellness, and currently has over 800 partners to provide unique experiences for members (offerings may differ by market). In the coming few months, exclusive travel and lifestyle offers and experiences will be rolled out just for Cathay members.

Director Customer Lifestyle Paul Smitton said: “As a home-grown airline from Hong Kong, we have been connecting our home city to the world and have grown together with our members for more than 75 years. Our world has evolved in the past few years, with changing expectations for travel and lifestyle. We continue to listen to our members and to invest in new experiences to help them move forward in life.

“We wanted to make it easier for members to get the most out of Cathay. That’s why we have simplified the programmes and evolved our membership to provide more benefits and choices that elevate our members’ lives, both on the ground and in the air, keeping everything they know and love about Cathay whilst innovating for the future. We want to thank our community of over 12 million members for their ongoing loyalty and support over the years.”

Cargo down in July for Cathay Pacific but passenger number increase

Cathay Pacific, the airline of Hong Kong has released its traffic figures for July 2022. The airline’s traffic figures continued to reflect the positive impact of further adjustments to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 219,746 passengers last month, an increase of 306.2% compared to July 2021, but a 93.3% decrease compared to the pre-pandemic level in July 2019. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 348.4% year-on-year but were down 89.4% versus July 2019. Passenger load factor increased by 44.7 percentage points to 73.3%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 74.6% year-on-year, but decreased by 87.6% compared with July 2019 levels. In the first seven months of 2022, the number of passengers carried increased by 162.8% against a 6.3% decrease in capacity and a 189.8% increase in RPKs, as compared to the same period for 2021.

The airline carried 100,714 tonnes of cargo last month, a decrease of 17.2% compared to July 2021, and a 40.7% decrease compared with the same period in 2019. The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) decreased 27.5% year-on-year, and were down 42.6% compared to July 2019. The cargo load factor decreased by 10.8 percentage points to 71%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was down by 16.4% year-on-year, and was down by 48.9% versus July 2019. In the first seven months of 2022, the tonnage decreased by 6.6% against a 28.3% drop in capacity and a 34.2% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2021.

-

Travel

Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said: “We continued to add more passenger flight capacity in July in light of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s progressive adjustments to travel and quarantine restrictions. Capacity increased by 24% compared to June, although it remained low at 12.4% of the pre-pandemic level. Passenger volume increased to an average of over 7,000 per day. Meanwhile, passenger load factor reached 73.3% – the highest it’s been since the start of the pandemic.

“The additional capacity we were able to operate provided enhanced connectivity options for our customers transiting through the Hong Kong hub, with demand from the Chinese Mainland to Australia and the US particularly robust. We also saw strong demand on our UK routes, especially from students returning to Hong Kong. As many of these flights were full, some of this student traffic shifted to our other European gateways such as Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Meanwhile, we were able to resume carrying passengers to Fuzhou, Nanjing and Wuhan in the Chinese Mainland again following adjustments to local capacity restrictions.

 

Cargo

“Cargo demand remained flat in many of our key markets in July as we entered the traditionally quieter summer months for air cargo. Tonnage decreased month on month across most markets, reflecting reduced cargo flight capacity due to weather related cancellations as well as ongoing operational restrictions which impacted the July schedule. The major impact of these challenges was seen on our Indian and the Americas routes, whilst capacity on our European routes grew marginally.

“Overall, our cargo volumes dipped by about 4% month on month against an approximately 7% decrease in capacity. We operated 51% of our pre-pandemic cargo flight capacity last month. Meanwhile, load factor was 71%.

 

Outlook

”Looking ahead on the travel side, the latest adjustments to quarantine arrangements for passengers arriving in Hong Kong are expected to have a positive impact on inbound traffic as well as leisure travel among Hong Kong residents. Student traffic to the US and UK is also expected to provide our travel business with a strong boost in August and September. However, our ability to add more passenger flight capacity will remain limited unless the restrictions on our aircrew are lifted.

”Regarding cargo, we expect to operate a full freighter schedule in August and going forward, complemented by regional cargo-only passenger flights and more belly capacity provided by our additional passenger services. However, long-haul cargo-only passenger flights will be limited. The situation involving cross-border trucking services between Shenzhen and Hong Kong remains uncertain, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely and adapt accordingly. We are cautiously optimistic about a solid seasonal winter peak season, although this is anticipated to be less pronounced than the one we experienced in 2021 in light of the current global economic environment."

CATHAY PACIFIC TRAFFIC	JUL 2022	%Change VS JUL 2021	Cumulative JUL 2022	%Change YTD
RPK (000)
- Chinese Mainland	44,605	114.5%	182,108	124.7%
- North East Asia	21,024	136.9%	48,195	37.3%
- South East Asia	91,744	380.5%	193,883	74.7%
- South Asia, Middle East  & Africa	32,241	460.0%	58,463	563.8%
- South West Pacific	174,524	792.0%	418,949	378.9%
- North America	537,162	245.6%	1,216,529	136.6%
- Europe	434,402	535.3%	1,027,221	314.6%
RPK Total (000)	1,335,702	348.4%	3,145,348	189.8%
Passengers carried	219,746	306.2%	555,208	162.8%
Cargo revenue tonne km (000)	546,796	-27.5%	2,669,628	-34.2%
Cargo carried (000kg)	100,714	-17.2%	626,591	-6.6%
Number of flights	1,723	8.2%	9,332	17.3%

 

CATHAY PACIFIC CAPACITY	JUL 2022	%Change VS JUL 2021	Cumulative JUL 2022	%Change YTD
ASK (000)
- Chinese Mainland	100,575	40.9%	591,063	83.0%
- North East Asia	75,357	43.0%	178,733	-38.1%
- South East Asia	158,863	91.9%	365,433	-31.3%
- South Asia, Middle East  & Africa	65,893	135.4%	133,478	176.9%
- South West Pacific	248,629	-11.6%	729,164	-40.0%
- North America	674,713	83.2%	1,611,118	-22.6%
- Europe	498,625	213.5%	1,272,475	76.2%
ASK Total (000)	1,822,655	74.6%	4,881,464	-6.3%
Passenger load factor	73.3%	44.7%pt	64.4%	43.6%pt
Available cargo tonne km (000)	770,243	-16.4%	3,571,458	-28.3%
Cargo load factor	71.0%	-10.8%pt	74.7%	-6.7%pt
ATK (000)	944,872	-7.4%	4,038,948	-26.2%

 /