Category: Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific releases combined traffic figures for March 2015

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Cathay Pacific Airways released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for March 2015 that show a double-digit increase in the number of passengers carried compared to the same month in 2014, along with a smaller increase in the cargo and mail uplift.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,887,106 passengers in March – an increase of 11.0% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor grew by 5.0 percentage points to 87.3% while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 5.7%. For the first quarter of 2015, passenger traffic grew by 8.6% while capacity was up by 6.9%

The two airlines carried 157,688 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 1.5% compared to March 2014. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 1.7 percentage points to 68.4%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, fell by 0.1% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres (RTKs) flown rose by 2.4%. For the first quarter of 2015, tonnage rose by 12.3% against a capacity increase of 9.8% and a 15.4% rise in RTKs.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Patricia Hwang said: “March is traditionally a shoulder season between the Chinese New Year and Easter peak periods, but this year saw passenger demand for the month rising above expectations. Demand was strong in all cabins, with high load factors to and from Southwest Pacific, Europe and the UK. Demand on the US routes caught up with the big increase in capacity introduced last year, while travel in the region was generally strong, particularly to Japan, Thailand and Singapore.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: “Air freight demand was generally robust throughout March, helped by the month-end and quarter-end production rush out of the key manufacturing cities in Mainland China. Once again the main focus of our business was on the transpacific lanes, with traffic into and out of North America spurred by the continuing congestion in sea ports on the West Coast of the USA. Demand to Europe remained below expectations, with business affected by the ongoing economic woes and the depreciation of the euro.”

Cathay Pacific to discontinue Moscow service from June

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Cathay Pacific Airways announced that it will discontinue its thrice-weekly service between Hong Kong and Moscow with effect from 1 June 2015. Alternative arrangements will be made for passengers already booked on Cathay Pacific flights to and from Moscow after that date.

The airline explained that the Moscow service is being discontinued for commercial reasons. High operating costs have made it difficult to operate profitably on the route while the number of passengers travelling between Hong Kong and Russia has been declining.

The airline will maintain a presence in Moscow to coordinate sales activities for flights through its other gateways in Western Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Connectivity with Moscow and other points in Russia will be maintained through oneworld partner S7 and other oneworld member airlines.

Cathay Pacific remains committed to serving Europe and will continue to identify opportunities to strengthen its services to and from the continent. The airline added Manchester to its network in December 2014 and is scheduled to launch new services to Zurich and Düsseldorf on 29 March and 1 September 2015, respectively.

 

Cathay Pacific adds Phnom Penh to growing freighter network

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Cathay Pacific Airways announced the launch of a new freighter service to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, commencing 23 November 2014.

The scheduled service will operate twice a week on a Hong Kong-Singapore-Penang-Phnom Penh-Hong Kong routing and will further strengthen the airline’s presence within the Asia Pacific region, offering customers greater choice and flexibility when moving goods between Cambodia and other parts of the world.

Cathay Pacific’s Director Cargo James Woodrow said: “We are delighted to strengthen our already extensive network in Asia by operating scheduled freighter services to Cambodia for the first time. This new service to Phnom Penh will boost the flow of garments and other manufactured products out of Cambodia, taking advantage of our world-class facilities in Hong Kong to connect to our comprehensive cargo network.”

Cathay Pacific currently operates cargo services to 45 freighter destinations around the world, including a new service to Calgary launched last month. Dragonair, the sister airline of Cathay Pacific, has been operating passenger services between Hong Kong and Phnom Penh since 1993.

Cathay Pacific offers more than 2,000 digital newspaper and magazine titles to lounge passengers

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Along with access to newspaper and magazine titles, passengers connecting to the airline’s lounge webpage can also access a range of other information.

Cathay Pacific Airways announced the introduction of digital newspapers and magazines for those using the airline’s lounges at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). Passengers can enjoy free streaming of more than 2,000 titles from some 100 countries through their personal devices, putting timely world news at their fingertips.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Product Toby Smith said: “We want to ensure that our passengers feel connected, informed and entertained. Our aim is to take advantage of the latest technological solutions to provide the most up-to-date information to our most premium passengers in our lounges.

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Passengers will be able to enjoy, free of charge, real-time premium content only available to subscribers.

“Newspaper streaming is just one example of how digital offerings can enhance the overall passenger experience. Currently it is not possible to make a wide selection of local and international printed newspapers available for international passengers travelling from all corners of the world, and newspapers are occasionally out of date by the time they are in our passengers’ hands. However, this digital solution will enable us to deliver up-to-date publications direct to passengers’ personal electronic devices in a very convenient way.”

Using the Wi-Fi network available in the lounges, passengers will be able to enjoy free-of-charge, real-time premium content only available to subscribers in newspapers such as the Financial Times, Hong Kong Economic Journal, International New York Times, Ming Pao, Oriental Daily and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Major titles from overseas will include The Daily Telegraph in Australia, The Washington Post in the United States, the UK’s Daily Mail and Le Monde in France, to name just a few.

The digital streaming of newspapers and magazines will be rolled out in phases, starting with The Wing, The Pier, The Cabin and The Bridge from 2 May 2014. The service will then be rolled out for the G16 lounge at HKIA followed progressively by Cathay Pacific lounges in overseas destinations.

Along with access to newspaper and magazine titles, passengers connecting to the airline’s lounge webpage can also access a range of other information including travel advisories, weather forecasts, destination information and online shopping.