Weaker Middle East demand impacts Cathay traffic
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Cathay Pacific and Dragonair have released their combined traffic figures for June 2011, with performance driven by strong demand for Southeast Asia routes. The Hong Kong-based airlines posted an overall 3.6% rise in traffic, in terms of revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), with demand for Southeast Asia services surging 18.5%. Cathay’s North America (+13.1%) routes also performed well, but demand for routes to the Middle East (-1.9%), China (-3.4%) and Northeast Asia (-12.4%) both fell. The carriers added 9.4% more seat capacity last month, compared to June 2010, leading to a 3.9-percentage point drop in load factor, which averaged 81.5%. Year-to-date, Cathay & Dragonair’s demand rose 3.6% on a 9.8% capacity expansion, with load factors averaging 79.3%.Cathay Pacific’s general manager for Revenue Management, Tom Owen said; “Passenger numbers in June showed an increase compared to the same month last year, though load factors in Economy Class fell due to the growth in capacity. Some routes – including Japan, Shanghai and the Middle East – continued to show weakness, though loads on key long-haul routes and within Southeast Asia remained high. Demand in our premium cabins continued to show growth over last year, helping to boost yield and revenue efficiency.”
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