Cathay enters 80th anniversary year on back of ‘robust’ carryings

Cathay Pacific and regional arm HK Express saw annual passenger carryings rise by more than a quarter last year.

The sister airlines flew a combined total of 36 million passengers, up 27% over 2024.

This came as overall capacity laid on increased by 25% year on year.

The Hong Kong-based airline group ended the year on a high with record of carryings of 125,000 passengers on December 27, a figure surpassed on January 3 with more than 126,000.

Chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “Stepping into 2026, we are excited to launch a series of events and initiatives as we welcome Cathay’s 80th anniversary. 

“As we mark this milestone, we remain committed to elevating our customer experience and reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as a leading international aviation hub, guided by our new vision of becoming our customers’ most loved service brand.”

Individually, Cathay Pacific carried 22% more passengers in December compared with the same month the previous year, with total annual numbers up 27% to 28.8 million.

Lau said: “In early December, we saw robust inbound traffic to Hong Kong among those visiting friends and relatives as well as students returning from North America, Oceania and the United Kingdom. 

“This was followed by increased inbound traffic to Hong Kong from Northeast Asia, Thailand and India over the year-end holiday period. 

“In terms of outbound traffic, we saw a surge in leisure travel demand during the holiday peak, notably to Northeast and Southeast Asia. The Chinese mainland also emerged as a key destination, with travellers from Hong Kong exploring a wide variety of cities across our network.

“Advance bookings for the Lunar New Year are accelerating as customers begin making travel plans following the year-end holidays. 

“Beyond February, we will focus on capturing demand from major events in Hong Kong and around the region until the next leisure peak at Easter.”

Meanwhile, annual carryings by HK Express rose by 30% to almost 8 million.