OREANDA-NEWS. Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for September 2013 that show passenger numbers rising despite decreased capacity, alongside a year-on-year drop in cargo and mail tonnage.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,379,812 passengers in September - an increase of 6% compared to the same month last year. The passenger load factor was up 3.2 percentage points to 81.4%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), fell by 0.4%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried has increased by 2.9% while capacity has fallen by 3.3%.

The two airlines carried 128,610 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a drop of 4.4% compared to September 2012. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 3.5 percentage points to 59.3%. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 2.2% while cargo and mail revenue tonne kilometres were down by 3.5%. For the year to date, tonnage has fallen by 1.9% compared to a 0.5% capacity increase.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management James Tong said: "Demand in the premium cabins usually picks up as we enter into the corporate travel peak, and our performance has been in line with expectations, with improvements in both yield and load factor. Our short-haul routes did well, with the Mid Autumn Festival spurring leisure traffic out of Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and Korea. However, Typhoon Usagi had a negative impact on our business, and currencies continued to work against us."

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch said: "Cargo revenue was behind budget when we expected to have moved fully into the peak season, with tonnage and load factor falling despite a slight capacity increase. The bright spot in our network is China, which saw a month-end, pre-National Holiday rush with tonnage jumping by double digits. The Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal's transition to full operation in early October is an important milestone and we look forward to improving the quality of the services and products we can offer to our customers."