Cathay Pacific will make a profit for the first time in three years – Kommersant

Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific has published data on passenger traffic in May and said that it expects to make a profit in the first half of the year. This will be the first semi-annual profit in the last three years for the air carrier, which was forced to land most of its aircraft during the pandemic and suffered record losses because of this.

As noted in the company’s financial statements, last May it carried 1.42 million passengers, which is 2345% more than in May 2022. In the first five months of the year, the airline carried 3281% more passengers than in the same period a year earlier – 6.3 million versus 185 thousand people. The aircraft load indicator in May 2023 increased by 24.7 percentage points to 85.1% compared to May 2022, the marginal passenger turnover increased by 1152%. The number of flights increased by 180.9%, in May 2023 there were 3347.

In addition, 18.8% more cargo was transported last month. With all this in mind, Cathay Pacific said in a statement that “we expect the group to post a consolidated profit in the first half of the year,” without specifying how much. Meanwhile, according to Refinitiv Eikon estimates, which the agency cites Reutersaccording to the results of the whole year, the Hong Kong air carrier will receive a record profit of $439 million. In 2022, the company had a loss of $914 million.

Alena Miklashevskaya