Cathay Pacific passenger traffic in February 2022 continued to be hampered by travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in Hong Kong as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline carried a total of 31,253 passengers in February 2022, an increase of 48% compared to the same month in 2021, but a decrease of 99% compared to pre-pandemic levels in February 2019. The majority of passenger flights were conducted to and from the Chinese Mainland and Australia.
“Travel and operational restrictions in place in Hong Kong continued to constrain our ability to operate more passenger flight capacity in February and we operated below 2% of pre-COVID-19 levels, a reduction of about 28% compared with January 2022,” Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam announced in a statement dated March 14, 2022.
Looking ahead to March 2022, Cathay Pacific expects passenger traffic to come from the Chinese Mainland. However, the airline does not foresee significant signs of recovery in passenger travel demand.
Passenger traffic results came just days after the airline released its earnings report for 2021. The carrier reduced its annual losses in 2021 but warned that tighter quarantine restrictions will further hamper passenger operations in 2022.
