2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

News> Hong Kong> Content
Friday, October 18, 2019, 23:44
HK flag carrier flies into serious 'turbulence'
By Pamela Lin
Friday, October 18, 2019, 23:44 By Pamela Lin

Tail fins of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd aircraft are seen at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, March 5, 2019. (PAUL YEUNG / BLOOMBERG)

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways and its wholly-owned unit, Cathay Dragon, continued to hit a rough patch in September, with the number of passengers flying with both airlines sliding for the second consecutive month with a drop of 7.1 percent year-on-year, as the protracted violent protests take their toll on Hong Kong’s tourism and other key business sectors.  

The Chinese mainland market has been particularly hard hit, and we observed very weak demand for travel over the National Day holidays – traditionally a very strong period

Ronald Lam

the group's chief customer and commercial officer

Cathay Pacific Group's passenger revenue was adversely affected by weakened market sentiment, especially for passengers travel to Hong Kong, Ronald Lam, the group's chief customer and commercial officer, said on Friday.

Last month's passenger load factor for both carriers was down 7.2 percentage points, while inbound passenger traffic dropped by 38 percent – the same as the figures for August. Outbound traffic slipped 9 percent year-on-year. 

For cargo and mail carriage, the two airlines registered a fall of 4.4 percent compared to the same month last year. 

Cathay said there'll be a significant shortfall in inbound bookings for the rest of this year, particularly from the Chinese mainland and other Asian markets. In response, the company has reduced capacity for the winter season. 

“The Chinese mainland market has been particularly hard hit, and we observed very weak demand for travel over the National Day holidays – traditionally a very strong period,” Lam said. The week-long National Day break saw a plunge of more than 50 percent in the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong year-on-year.  

Cathay cut its outlook for the second-half financial results, which are expected to be lower than the first-half. The airline had said when announcing the interim results in August that the second-half performance was expected to be better than the first half. 

Cathay Pacific’s share price closed down 2.16 percent at HK$9.96 at the close of trading in Hong Kong on Friday. 


pamelain@chinadailyhk.com 



Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !