The Cathay Group sees a solid start to 2026 with continued passenger growth

Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Group has reported year-on-year growth in both passenger and cargo traffic for January 2026.

Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “As a Group, we have made a solid start to 2026 with momentum from the robust year-end travel peak sustaining into early January.

“Our passenger airlines, Cathay Pacific and HK Express, carried a combined total of more than 3.3 million passengers in January 2026, an 11% increase compared with January 2025.

“Meanwhile, Cathay Cargo carried over 130,000 tonnes of cargo during the month, marking a 5% increase year on year.

“Our solid start to the year has continued in February. On 14 February 2026, both Cathay Pacific and the Cathay Group achieved new single-day passenger records.

“Cathay Pacific surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time in its history, carrying 100,747 passengers onboard. Together with HK Express, we carried a combined total of around 128,000 passengers.”

Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific carried 11% more passengers in January 2026 compared with January 2025, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) increased by 14%.

Lavinia said: “We saw robust demand in early January, driven by outbound student traffic and travellers returning from the year-end holiday season.

“This was followed by a strong rebound in business travel, with load factor for our premium cabins performing better than in January 2025.

“We also experienced a significant increase in transit traffic as we continued to add frequencies across our network, further strengthening the connectivity of the Hong Kong international aviation hub.

“The Lunar New Year holidays in February have just passed and we saw robust leisure traffic as customers across Asia took advantage of the extended holiday period.

“Looking ahead to Easter, travel demand remains robust. We anticipate bookings to accelerate as more customers book closer to their departure dates.”

HK Express carried more than 710,000 passengers in January 2026, an increase of 8% year on year, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) grew by 13%.

Lavinia said: “In January, HK Express continued to record passenger growth supported by solid load factors on its South Korea and Thailand routes.

“Looking at February and March, bookings remain healthy on the back of strong growth in travel demand to the Chinese Mainland and Southeast Asia.

“Notably, on 20 February 2026, HK Express achieved a new single-day record, surpassing 30,000 passengers carried onboard for the very first time.”