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Cathay Pacific issues profit warning as passenger traffic continues to fall
Cathay Pacific Airways saw further declines in passenger traffic in September as Hong Kong’s anti-government protests continued into its fifth month.
Cathay handled 2.4 million passengers, which is down 7.1% year-over-year.
Cathay Pacific Group chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam issued a second-half profit warning.
Cathay has cut capacity and downgraded some routes but load factors still declined to 73.6%.
Lam said the airline is mulling ‘short-term tactical’ measures which will kick in for the October-March winter season.
"We continue to see a significant shortfall in inbound bookings for the remainder of 2019 as compared to the same snapshot last year. This has been felt most strongly with bookings from mainland China and our other Asian markets," Lam said.
Traditionally Cathay can rely on the Golden Week national holidays in China to boost load factor and yields but the ongoing protests have scared mainland Chinese visitors away.
Passenger numbers from mainland China were down 23.3% in September although Lam said the airline’s transit traffic was ‘relatively stable.’
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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