Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for December 2022, which saw a marked improvement in the second-half results of the Group's airlines and subsidiaries over the first-half results, and the airline noted that it would continue to rebuild its network and Hong Kong international aviation hub moving into 2023.
The Hong Kong-based carrier saw a surge in passenger volumes in the last month of 2022 following various easing of pandemic restrictions both in the city and in mainland China as it recorded a 768.7% increase compared with December 2021 — although this is still 73.3% down compared with the pre-pandemic level in December 2019.
In terms of cargo, however, Cathay Pacific continued to record declines ending the year with a double-digit drop in air freight volumes which it attributed to persisting global challenges.
The airline carried 106,471 tonnes of cargo last month, a decrease of 21% compared with December 2021 and a 40% decrease compared with the same period in 2019.
"In terms of cargo, overall market demand continued to be flat in December, as was the case for the fourth quarter. Tonnage saw a mild month-on-month increase of 3% against a 4% increase in cargo flight capacity," said Ronald Lam, chief executive officer.
He added that overall in December, Cathay Pacific operated 65% of pre-pandemic cargo flight capacity levels.
The month’s cargo revenue tonne kilometres (RFTKs) also decreased 22.6% year-on-year. They were down 34% compared with December 2019 as cargo load factor decreased by 16.9 percentage points to 67.3%, while capacity, measured in available cargo tonne kilometres (AFTKs), decreased by 3.2% year-on-year, and was down by 35% versus December 2019.
Cathay Pacific noted that in the full year of 2022, the tonnage decreased by 13.4% against a 19% decrease in capacity and a 29.8% decrease in RFTKs, as compared with 2021.
Marked improvement in second half of 2022
Cathay Pacific noted that, as a whole, the second-half 2022 results for the Group's airlines and subsidiaries were a "marked improvement" over the first-half 2022 results, although still a small loss overall for the full year of 2022.
However, the results from associates, the majority of which are recognised as three months in arrears and which, in some cases, have already been announced, including significant losses.
"I am very encouraged to see a trend of continuous improvement in our operations and financial performance for our airlines and subsidiaries in the second half of 2022," Lam said. "Progressive relaxations to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in Hong Kong enabled us to be operating cash generative overall in the second half of 2022."
Cathay Pacific Group is expected to record a consolidated loss attributable to shareholders of approximately HK$6.4-7.0 billion for 2022. This compares to the attributable loss to shareholders of HK$5.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Looking ahead, Cathay Pacific expects its passenger performance to "continue to be strong" following the return of quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.
The airline is looking to operate 70% of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2023 with the aim of returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.
This would also help boost belly cargo capacity.
Cargo to continue to face challenges
"Concerning cargo, the easing of restrictions for cross-border trucking between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland is welcome news," Lam said.
"On the other hand, with COVID-19 still impacting various parts of the country, coupled with the Chinese New Year occurring in January, the air cargo market will continue to experience challenges until mid-February," the Cathay Pacific chief further said, noting that the airline will "remain agile" in its response to these new challenges.
Cathay Pacific said it is still in the process of finalising the Group's annual results for the year ended December 31, 2022, and will publish its annual results in March 2023.
