The Cathay Group, based in Hong Kong has opened 2026 with a confident performance across its passenger and cargo businesses, reporting double digit growth in several key metrics and setting new single day records as travel demand across Asia continues to strengthen.
The group’s January 2026 traffic figures, released on 24 February, underline a sustained recovery trajectory and a notable acceleration in regional mobility.
The Numbers from Hong Kong…
Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau described the opening month of the year as a continuation of the momentum built during the 2025 year end peak.
“As a Group, we have made a solid start to 2026 with momentum from the robust year end travel peak sustaining into early January,” she said.
“Our passenger airlines Cathay Pacific and HK Express carried a combined total of more than 3.3 million passengers in January 2026, an 11 percent increase compared with January 2025.”
Cathay Pacific alone carried 2,622,316 passengers during the month, an 11.5 percent rise year on year, supported by a 14.3 percent increase in Available Seat Kilometres to 12.87 billion.
Revenue Passenger Kilometres grew by 12.3 percent to 10.93 billion, reflecting strong underlying demand.
Although the passenger load factor softened slightly by 1.5 percentage points to 84.9 percent, the airline attributes this to capacity growth outpacing traffic rather than any weakening in the market.
Lau highlighted the mix of demand drivers shaping the month. “We saw robust demand in early January, driven by outbound student traffic and travellers returning from the year end holiday season,” she said.
“This was followed by a strong rebound in business travel, with load factor for our premium cabins performing better than in January 2025.”
Transit traffic also increased significantly as Cathay continued to rebuild frequencies across its network, reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a major international hub.
The airline expects this trend to continue into the spring peak.
“Looking ahead to Easter, travel demand remains robust. We anticipate bookings to accelerate as more customers book closer to their departure dates,” Lau added.
February has already delivered a milestone moment for the group.
On 14 February, Cathay Pacific carried 100,747 passengers in a single day, surpassing the 100,000 mark for the first time in its history.
Combined with HK Express, the group transported around 128,000 passengers that day, setting a new record.
The group’s low cost subsidiary HK Express also reported a strong start to the year.
The airline carried 717,561 passengers in January, up 7.6 percent year on year, with ASKs rising 12.8 percent to 1.65 billion.
Revenue Passenger Kilometres increased by 8.2 percent to 1.34 billion. While the load factor eased by 3.5 percentage points to 81.1 percent, the airline continues to benefit from high demand on its core leisure routes.
“In January, HK Express continued to record passenger growth supported by solid load factors on its South Korea and Thailand routes,” Lau said.
She added that forward bookings for February and March remain healthy, particularly for travel to the Chinese Mainland and Southeast Asia. The airline also achieved its own single day record on 20 February, surpassing 30,000 passengers for the first time.
Cathay Cargo Performing Strongly…
Cathay Cargo also delivered year on year growth despite what the group described as a slower start following the traditional year end peak.
The cargo division carried 137,143 tonnes in January, a 5 percent increase compared with the same month last year.
Available Freight Tonne Kilometres rose 3 percent to 1.29 billion, while Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometres increased 0.7 percent to 707.6 million.
The cargo load factor softened by 1.3 percentage points to 54.9 percent.
Lau noted that the airline’s specialist cargo products continue to perform strongly.
“Cherries and seafood from Oceania to Hong Kong and other major Asian cities contributed significantly to the demand for Cathay Fresh, while increased pharmaceutical movements from Europe and Central America supported the continued growth of our Cathay Pharma solution,” she said.
She also highlighted the transport of around 60 elite showjumping horses from Europe to Hong Kong for the Longines Hong Kong International Horse Show 2026, describing it as a demonstration of the airline’s expertise in live animal transport.
Looking ahead, the group expects cargo demand to strengthen through the remainder of the first quarter as the market normalises following the Lunar New Year slowdown.
“We expect demand to pick up again in the rest of the first quarter after a softer period over the extended Lunar New Year holidays,” Lau said.
Looking Ahead for the Hong Kong Firm…
With passenger and cargo volumes rising, capacity expanding and new records already being set, the Cathay Group enters 2026 with clear momentum.
The figures suggest a confident year ahead for Hong Kong’s home carrier as it continues rebuilding scale and reinforcing its position in the region’s competitive aviation landscape.
All eyes will turn to what the rest of 2026 and how the airline is able to pivot around any potential challenges, and capitalise on successes where they can.
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