Cathay Pacific pax numbers up 3% with 84% load factor in Mar-2016, cargo volume stable

Cathay Pacific reported (20-Apr-2016) the following traffic highlights in Mar-2016:

• Passenger numbers: 3.0 million, +2.6% year-on-year;
• Passenger traffic (RPKs): +1.2%;
• • China: +0.5%;
  • Northeast Asia: +2.7%;
  • Southeast Asia: +8.7%;
  • India, Middle East, Pakistan & Sri Lanka: -12.7%;
  • South West Pacific & South Africa: -2.4%;
  • North America: -0.3%;
  • Europe: +5.6%;
• Passenger load factor: 83.9%, -3.4 ppts;
• Capacity (ASKs): +5.2%;
• Cargo volume: 157,006 tonnes, -0.4%;
• Cargo load factor: 63.0%, -5.4 ppts;
• Flights: 6749, +2.0%. [more - original PR]

Cathay Pacific: "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." Source: Company statement, 20-Apr-2016.