Last year, Cathay Pacific’s passenger capacity fell by 86.9% and cargo capacity fell by 34.1%

　　China News Service, Hong Kong, January 25 (Reporter Shi Bingyun) Cathay Pacific Airways of Hong Kong announced on the 25th that the number of passengers carried by Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon for the whole year of 2020 decreased by 86.9% compared with 2019, and the cargo volume dropped by 34.1%.

　　Hong Kong Cathay Pacific announced on the 25th December 2020 and full-year passenger and cargo data.

The company carried 39,989 passengers in December, a decrease of 98.7% from the same month in 2019. The passenger load factor fell by 66.6 percentage points to 18.4%.

The company carried 120,218 metric tons of cargo and mail in December, a decrease of 32.3% from the same month in 2019.

Cathay Pacific said that due to the ongoing global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia, Hong Kong and several markets have implemented travel restrictions and quarantine measures. Cathay Pacific continued to cut its capacity significantly in December in response to weak demand.

For the whole year, the number of passengers carried by Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon in 2020 decreased by 86.9% compared with 2019, and the cargo volume dropped by 34.1%.

　　Lin Shaobo, President of Cathay Pacific’s customer and commercial operations, said: “The challenges faced by the passenger transport business continue to be severe. Overall, the average daily passenger capacity and passenger load factor in December were at a low level.” He said that in early December, British students Demand for returning to Hong Kong during the winter vacation has increased.

On December 22, the SAR government banned flights from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong, coupled with the extension of the quarantine period for incoming passengers, etc., affecting passenger transportation in late December.

The company added flights to and from North America, the South Pacific and some regional routes in December, and its capacity increased by about 8% compared to November.

　　In terms of cargo, Cathay Pacific stated that the performance of its cargo business at the end of 2020 is similar to the overall trend in the second half of the year, and is relatively satisfactory.

At the end of the year, the export demand momentum from the Mainland and Hong Kong was longer than expected, which led to a monthly increase of about 3% in December cargo.

The average load factor of 80.3% in December is the highest monthly average in 2020.

In addition, Cathay Pacific also pointed out that the cargo performance of Northeast Asia and Southwest Pacific is also encouraging, especially in handling priority and special cargo needs.

　　From February 2021, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will require pilots and cabin attendants in Hong Kong to undergo quarantine for 14 days and medical surveillance for 7 days.

Cathay Pacific initially assessed that due to the new regulations, it may reduce the current passenger capacity by about 60% and freight capacity by about 25%; the monthly operating cash consumption will increase from the current approximately HK$1 to 1.5 billion, and an additional HK$300-400 million.

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