News
Cathay Pacific passengers increase 29.6% from surge in leisure and student demand
September 24th 2025
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 2.7 million customers in August up from the 2.1 million air travellers it transported in the same month in 2024. Read More » Capacity expanded 32.2% year-on-year in the 31 days and passenger load factor for the reported period was higher by 1.6 percentage points - at 86.7%. "Marking the second half of the traditional summer travel peak, August was another positive month for our passenger business," the airline’s chief customer and commercial officer, Lavinia Lau, said. "We saw robust leisure demand throughout August, particularly from our home market and the Chinese Mainland to various short-haul destinations and a surge in outbound student traffic towards the end of the month. In addition, sentiment for travel to Japan improved over July but still fell short of last year." Cathay Group LCC, HK Express, reported a 35.8% increase in customers, to 802,091, in the reported period. Available Seat Kilometres increased 40.5% and passenger load factor declined 5.2 percentage points to 85.4%. "Looking at September, HK Express will continue to offer attractive fares to stimulate demand as it enters the low season," Lau said.
