Passenger figures have been a big talking point for Cathay Pacific. Prior to 2020 Cathay Pacific was one of the largest international airlines worldwide. The airline remained an iconic aviation brand, however, 2020 travel restrictions hit hard and the path to recovery has been arduous. The good news is that growth since 2023 has been constant and strong. Cathay Pacific grew by 26% in passenger volume to carry over 28 million passengers.
Cathay Pacific’s 2025 Passenger Traffic Data
| Year | Month | Passengers Transported | Load Factor | ASK | RPK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | January | 2,352,242 | 86.4% | 11,269,213 | 9,732,981 |
| 2025 | February | 2,058,938 | 82.9% | 10,187,240 | 8,450,299 |
| 2025 | March | 2,256,242 | 82.7% | 11,357,120 | 9,390,917 |
| 2025 | April | 2,373,541 | 86.4% | 10,973,629 | 9,483,200 |
| 2025 | May | 2,284,812 | 84.7% | 11,466,188 | 9,716,956 |
| 2025 | June | 2,300,801 | 85.6% | 11,539,073 | 9,876,538 |
| 2025 | July | 2,489,154 | 85.9% | 12,256,459 | 10,533,262 |
| 2025 | August | 2,682,071 | 86.7% | 12,770,243 | 11,074,075 |
| 2025 | September | 2,198,381 | 82.3% | 11,430,859 | 9,407,276 |
| 2025 | October | 2,604,215 | 85.8% | 12,479,345 | 10,710,849 |
| 2025 | November | 2,530,436 | 87.0% | 11,923,112 | 10,374,948 |
| 2025 | December | 2,739,817 | 85.4% | 13,028,694 | 11,124,121 |
| Totals | – | 28,870,650 | 85.2% (AVG) | 11,723,431 (AVG) | 9,989,619 (AVG) |
The table shows the month-by-month breakdown of:
- Passenger volumes
- Load factor
- Available seat per kilometer
- Revenue passengers per kilometer
The story it tells us of a solid 2025 for the airline. Passenger volumes were consistent throughout the year, ending 2025 just shy of the 30 million passenger mark.
Cathay Pacific’s Growth Over The Past 3 Years
Cathay Pacific passenger data taken out of context doesn’t tell much of a story. It’s only when you contextualize it with prior years, 2024 and 2023, that you get a much clearer picture of how important and impressive 2025 figures really are.
Back in 2023 Cathay Pacific was just coming out of the extremely harsh travel restrictions imposed by the central government. The airline had to rebuild its capacity just as well as its passenger volumes.
It wrapped up 2023 with 17.9 million passengers carried. Since then, in the following 2 years the airline achieved over 26% growth volumes year on year.
| Year | % Growth | Volume Growth |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | – | – |
| 2024 | 26.9% | +4,842,124 |
| 2025 | 26.5% | +6,043,376 |
| From 2023 | 60.5% | +10,885,500 |
To achieve such impressive growth in the matter of a couple of years the airline has had to massively increase its available seats per kilometer (or ASK). Revenue passengers per kilometer lagged by some time which you can see clearly in this chart below.
What to Expect From 2026
My gut feeling tells me that it’ll be very difficult to achieve the same levels of growth. I’m sure the airline’s management also knows and sees that. A growth factor halved with this year’s would still be a massive success as it would push the airline well above the 30 million passenger mark.
Other Cathay Pacific Posts and Pages
- The Cathay Pacific passenger figures tracker page
- The Iconic “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich” Retro Livery is back
- Cathay Pacific Expands Complimentary Inflight Wi-Fi to More Passengers
- Cathay Pacific’s history
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