Cathay Pacific Surges in December 2024 Traffic
Cathay Pacific Group has announced impressive traffic results for December 2024 as the airline completes a successful two-year rebuild following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest figures, the Hong Kong-based carrier carried 2,248,950 passengers in December 2024 – an increase of 26.4% compared with December 2023. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) also rose by 27.9% year on year, while the passenger load factor climbed 3.6 percentage points to reach 84.8%. Additionally, available seat kilometers (ASKs) increased by 22.5% on a yearly basis, all of which point to strong recovery and growing demand.
The stellar December performance is part of a broader upward trend for the Cathay Group. In 2024, Cathay Pacific and its low-cost subsidiary, HK Express, collectively carried more than 28 million passengers – a robust year-on-year increase of 30.7%. This growth has been fueled by the airline’s strategic emphasis on leveraging its global network and the extensive connectivity of Hong Kong’s aviation hub, particularly benefiting transit passengers flying between the Chinese Mainland and international destinations.
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau highlighted the significance of December as a peak travel month. “December is the traditional peak season for our travel business as customers visit friends and relatives, and travel for leisure over the Christmas and New Year holidays,” Lau noted. She also pointed out a historic achievement during the year-end travel period: Cathay Pacific and HK Express together carried over 100,000 passengers in a single day on eight separate occasions – the highest numbers recorded since the airline began its rebuild.
The resurgence in premium travel has also contributed to the strong performance, with high demand for business class cabins and international flights. In addition to boosting passenger numbers, Cathay Pacific has seen improved unit revenue, a measure of its pricing power, across domestic, international, and basic economy classes. These improvements are part of a comprehensive strategy to recover fully from the pandemic’s impacts and achieve 100% of pre-pandemic flight levels starting January 2025.
On the cargo side, December 2024 results were equally encouraging. The airline transported 143,564 tonnes of cargo, marking an 11.7% increase compared with December 2023. Cargo revenue tonne kilometers (RFTKs) rose by 6.5% year on year, and the cargo load factor improved slightly, reaching 61.4%. Available cargo tonne kilometers (AFTKs) also saw a 5.5% uplift compared with the previous year. Over the entirety of 2024, Cathay Cargo handled 1.5 million tonnes of cargo, representing an 11% increase over 2023. Lau highlighted that the healthy market momentum—spurred by robust demand for e-commerce shipments from Hong Kong and strong demand for perishables and seasonal produce from the Southwest Pacific and the Americas—was a key driver behind these gains.
Looking ahead, Cathay Pacific remains focused on further strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a leading global aviation hub. The airline recently announced the launch of direct flights between Hong Kong and Rome starting in June 2025. With six new destinations already confirmed for 2025, Cathay Pacific aims to reach 100 destinations worldwide this year. Lau noted that, following the Lunar New Year peak, leisure travel demand is expected to taper off slightly, with flights carrying an increased number of transit passengers.
As Cathay Pacific looks toward 2025, the group is confident that both passenger and cargo demand will continue to grow steadily, cementing its recovery and setting the stage for an even stronger performance in the coming year.
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