CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LIMITED Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.
(Incorporated in Hong Kong with limited liability)
(Stock Code: 293)
The appended press release contains combined traffic figures for March 2016 for Cathay Pacific Airways Limited ("Cathay Pacific") and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited ("Dragonair"). The information in the press release may be price sensitive. This announcement containing the press release is accordingly being issued pursuant to Part XIVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance. The information in the press release has been prepared on the basis of internal management records. It has not been audited or reviewed by external auditors.
This announcement is issued by Cathay Pacific pursuant to Part XIVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance.
The information in this announcement has been prepared on the basis of internal management records. It has not been audited or reviewed by external auditors.
Investors are advised to exercise caution in dealing in shares of Cathay Pacific.
As at the date of this announcement, the Directors of Cathay Pacific are:
Executive Directors: John Slosar (Chairman), Ivan Chu, Rupert Hogg, Martin Murray, Algernon Yau;
Non-Executive Directors: Cai Jianjiang, Fan Cheng, Martin Cubbon, Ian Shiu, Song Zhiyong, Merlin Swire, Samuel Swire, Zhao Xiaohang;
Independent Non-Executive Directors: John Harrison, Irene Lee, Andrew Tung and Peter Wong.
By Order of the Board
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited
David Fu
Company Secretary
Hong Kong, 20th April 2016
20 April 2016
Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for March 2016 that show an increase in the number of passengers carried compared to the same month in 2015, alongside a marginal decrease in the volume of cargo and mail uplifted.
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,960,915 passengers last month - an increase of 2.6% compared to March 2015. The passenger load factor fell by 3.4 percentage points to 83.9% while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), grew by 5.2%. In the first quarter of 2016, the number of passengers carried rose by 5.3% compared to a 6.5% increase in capacity.
The two airlines carried 157,006 tonnes of cargo and mail in March, a drop of 0.4% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 5.4 percentage points to 63.0%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, increased by 4.1% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) fell by 4.1%. In the first quarter of the year, the tonnage carried fell by 3.1% against a 2.6% increase in capacity and a 4.8% drop in RTKs.
Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Patricia Hwang said: "Passenger traffic was generally robust in March, although the growth in passenger numbers was not able to keep pace with the growth in capacity, leading to a drop in load factor. Traffic was boosted by the Easter holiday and school holidays at the end of the month, with strong demand to the major holiday destinations in the region. The proximity of the Ching Ming festival to Easter resulted in higher demand for long-haul travel over the holiday period. However, demand in the premium cabins continued to fall short of expectations, which in turn put downward pressure on yield."
Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: "Following a generally weak February, we saw some improvement in airfreight demand in March. This was helped by the shipment of new consumer IT products out of the major manufacturing cities of Western China. There was a pickup in traffic on key transpacific routes, and we mounted a number of additional flights into India in response to continued robust demand. Overall, however, the air cargo markets remain soft and yield remains under pressure in what is a highly competitive environment."
The full March figures are on the next page.
CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED TRAFFIC | MAR | % Change | Cumulative | % Change |
2016 | VS MAR 2015 | MAR 2016 | YTD | |
RPK (000) | ||||
- Mainland China | 760,063 | 0.5% | 2,217,872 | 4.0% |
- North East Asia | 1,352,320 | 2.7% | 3,885,985 | 1.8% |
- South East Asia | 1,605,370 | 8.7% | 4,544,793 | 9.2% |
- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka | 621,191 | -12.7% | 1,917,079 | -4.0% |
- South West Pacific & South Africa | 1,471,150 | -2.4% | 4,686,210 | 6.9% |
- North America | 2,746,213 | -0.3% | 8,225,455 | 3.6% |
- Europe | 1,762,032 | 5.6% | 5,313,461 | 12.0% |
RPK Total (000) | 10,318,339 | 1.2% | 30,790,855 | 5.5% |
Passengers carried | 2,960,915 | 2.6% | 8,605,434 | 5.3% |
Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000) | 891,344 | -4.1% | 2,427,430 | -4.8% |
Cargo and mail carried (000kg) | 157,006 | -0.4% | 421,995 | -3.1% |
Number of flights | 6,749 | 2.0% | 19,810 | 3.3% |
CATHAY PACIFIC / DRAGONAIR COMBINED CAPACITY | MAR | % Change | Cumulative | % Change |
2016 | VS MAR 2015 | MAR 2016 | YTD | |
ASK (000) | ||||
- Mainland China | 958,257 | -0.9% | 2,844,951 | 2.0% |
- North East Asia | 1,650,773 | 5.4% | 4,908,113 | 4.3% |
- South East Asia | 1,847,670 | 6.4% | 5,363,541 | 6.3% |
- India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka | 775,350 | -8.6% | 2,415,271 | -0.7% |
- South West Pacific & South Africa | 1,644,975 | 0.1% | 5,210,746 | 5.5% |
- North America | 3,326,173 | 9.0% | 9,762,720 | 8.1% |
- Europe | 2,088,666 | 11.8% | 6,089,113 | 12.5% |
ASK Total (000) | 12,291,864 | 5.2% | 36,594,455 | 6.5% |
Passenger load factor | 83.9% | -3.4pt | 84.1% | -0.8pt |
Available cargo/mail tonne km (000) | 1,414,529 | 4.1% | 3,975,590 | 2.6% |
Cargo and mail load factor | 63.0% | -5.4pt | 61.1% | -4.7pt |
ATK (000) | 2,583,276 | 4.6% | 7,455,418 | 4.4% |
Gloria Lam, Corporate Communication Manager - Public Affairs
Tel: +852 2747-5694 Email: gloria_lam@cathaypacific.com
Jasmine Chan, Corporate Communication Manager - Public Affairs & Special Projects Tel: +852 2747-5378 Email: jasmine_wt_chan@cathaypacific.com
Cathay Pacific website: www.cathaypacific.com
Glossary Terms: Available seat kilometres ("ASK")Passenger seat capacity, measured in seats available for the carriage of passengers on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Overall capacity measured in tonnes available for the carriage of passengers, excess baggage, cargo and mail on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Cargo capacity measured in tonnes available for the carriage of cargo and mail on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Number of passengers carried on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Traffic volume, measured in load tonnes from the carriage of cargo and mail on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Revenue passenger kilometres/ Cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres
Passenger/Cargo and mail load factor = ----------------------------------------------------Available seat kilometres/ Available cargo and mail tonne kilometres
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. issued this content on 20 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 20 April 2016 05:04:18 UTC
Original Document: http://www.cathaypacific.com/dam/cx/about-us/investor-relations/announcements/en/201603_traffic_figures_en.pdf
