Photo: Xinhua

Cathay Pacific Group witnessed a dramatic decline in passengers in October with the load factor falling to a record low, the company’s data showed on Friday, reflecting airlines’ substantial capacity reductions as demand has been hit hard by the pandemic.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 38,541 passengers last month, a decrease of 98.6 percent compared to October 2019, and the passenger load factor dropped by 59.3 percentage points to 18.2 percent, the lowest-ever load factor, the group said. 

In the first 10 months of 2020, the number of passengers carried dropped by 84.6 percent along with a 76.5 percent decrease in capacity and an 82.6 percent decrease in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), as compared to the same period for 2019.

The group also said its two airlines carried 114,346 tons of cargo and mail last month, a decrease of 37.6 percent compared to October 2019. 

The group said it operated just 8.4 percent of planned capacity in October compared to about 9 percent in September, and much of the demand for student travel that they had been relying on throughout the summer season tapered off in early October. Additionally, demand for UK and Continental Europe flights dropped rapidly amid a resurgence of COVID-19 in many European countries.

However, the cargo business continues to be the better performer. Following the National Day Holidays at the beginning of October, demand from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland rebounded quickly, driven by new electronic products. Return traffic from the Americas and Europe also improved month-on-month.

The group said they are excited to fly between Hong Kong and Singapore as part of the new travel bubble.

But the overall recovery is likely to be slow, and the group said it expects to operate well under 25 percent of 2019 passenger capacity in the first half of 2021 and below 50 percent for the entire year.

As Hong Kong and multiple other markets are continuing to implement travel restrictions and quarantine measures, the group has axed a large number of flights amid the demand slump. 

Cathay Pacific said in October that it will cut approximately 8,500 positions in the entire group, accounting for around 24 percent of its staff, and one of its major regional airlines, Cathay Dragon, will cease operations to cope with the fallout from the global pandemic.

Global Times