Solid demand for the cargo and year-end travel peaks
Projecting the 2025 full-year result to exceed last year’s performance
— The Cathay Group today released its traffic figures for November 2025, showing solid demand for its passenger and cargo businesses.
Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “In November, we continued to expand the Group’s global network. Cathay Pacific launched daily flights to Changsha and a seasonal service to Adelaide, while HK Express introduced daily flights to Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). As a Group, we have launched flights to 20 destinations this year, reaching a total of 103 destinations worldwide and further enhancing the connectivity of the Hong Kong international aviation hub.”
Cathay PacificCathay Pacific carried 26% more passengers in November 2025 compared with November 2024, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) increased by 22%. In the first 11 months of 2025, the number of passengers carried increased by 27% compared with the same period for 2024.
Lavinia said: “Passenger volumes remained strong across our network in November, even without there being any major holidays in Hong Kong. We achieved a monthly load factor of 87%, the highest we have seen in the past two years. We saw robust demand on our Northeast Asia routes, fuelled by travellers from Hong Kong as well as key markets in Europe and Southeast Asia. Our seasonal services to Adelaide and Christchurch were also well received, supported by solid transit traffic.
“The outlook for the Christmas travel peak remains strong, with destinations in Northeast Asia being the most popular among customers in our home market. Looking further ahead, demand for the Lunar New Year holiday is promising, especially from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.”
Cathay CargoCathay Cargo carried 10% more cargo in November 2025 than in November 2024, while Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 7%. In the first 11 months of 2025, the total tonnage increased by 10% compared with the same period for 2024.
Lavinia said: “Our cargo business continued to record month-on-month and year-on-year growth in November, driven by solid exports from our home market and the Chinese Mainland, alongside growth across our Southeast Asia and South Asia, Middle East and Africa routes. Our specialist solutions also performed well, with Cathay Priority maintaining strong demand into Northeast Asia, and Cathay Expert and Cathay Fresh experiencing boosts within Northeast Asia and from South America.
“We are seeing a robust air cargo peak that is expected to continue into December. While we will begin scaling back our peak-season freighter schedule from the middle of the month as overall demand starts to ease, core demand on our key trade lanes is expected to hold up well.”
HK ExpressHK Express carried close to 640,000 passengers in November 2025, an increase of 27% year on year, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) grew by 18%. In the first 11 months of 2025, the number of passengers carried increased by 30% compared with the same period for 2024.
Lavinia said: “HK Express maintained its passenger growth in November, while load factor improved by nearly six percentage points compared with November 2024 to over 83%. Meanwhile for December, advance bookings across the airline’s network remain healthy.
Financial OutlookThe Group projects a strong second-half financial result driven by increased capacity, solid passenger load factors and resilient cargo demand. This is partially offset by losses made by HK Express mainly due to various factors that negatively impacted travel demand to Japan.
The results from the Group’s associates, the majority of which are recognised three months in arrears, are expected to improve in the second half of 2025 as compared to the first half.
Additionally, the Group’s second-half result includes Other Income of approximately HK$0.9 billion arising from a non‑recurring gain on a supplier settlement agreement.
With respect to the Cathay Group’s consolidated 2025 full-year financial result, the second half of the year has historically been the stronger of the two halves for the Group and this has been the case this year as it was in 2024. Overall, the Group’s full‑year consolidated financial result is expected to exceed last year’s solid performance.
The Cathay Group’s full November 2025 figures and glossary are on the following pages.
Terms:
Available Seat Kilometres (“ASK”)
Passenger seat capacity, measured in seats available for the carriage of passengers on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (“AFTK”)
Cargo capacity measured in tonnes available for the carriage of freight on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Revenue Passenger Kilometres (“RPK”)
Number of passengers carried on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometres (“RFTK”)
Amount of cargo, measured in tonnes, carried on each sector multiplied by the sector distance.
Passenger load factor = Revenue Passenger Kilometres / Available Seat Kilometres
Cargo load factor = Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometres / Available Freight Tonne Kilometres
Release ID: 89179386
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