Cathay Pacific Reports Strong Start to 2025 with Record Passenger Traffic

The Cathay Group, encompassing Cathay Pacific and HK Express, kicked off 2025 with impressive traffic figures for January, released today. The group transported over 2.35 million passengers, a 37% jump from January 2024, highlighted by a post-pandemic record of 110,000 passengers on January 25 during the Lunar New Year peak.

Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau remarked, “The Cathay Group has got off to a strong start in 2025.” Passenger capacity rose by 30.9% in Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), with a load factor increase of 3.6 points. Premium cabins saw solid demand from business travelers, while long-haul routes benefited from students returning to school. Short-haul destinations dominated leisure travel during the Lunar New Year surge from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.

On the cargo front, Cathay Cargo handled 13.7% more tonnage than last year, totaling 130,000 tonnes, with Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (AFTKs) up by 14.7%. Demand was fueled by perishables from the Southwest Pacific and secure cargo from Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, though load factor dipped by 2.5 points.

The group also expanded its network, with HK Express launching flights to Sendai on January 17 and announcing Nha Trang and Ishigaki routes from April 3. Cathay Pacific will resume direct Rome flights on June 5, contributing to eight new destinations in 2025. Lau added, “We’re enhancing our network for customers and Hong Kong, aiming for 100 passenger destinations worldwide this year.”