Cathay Pacific Group has announced positive financial results through the first half of 2013, with revenues and profits rising despite a challenging operating environment.

Passenger revenue at the group increased by 4.4 per cent to HK$36,520 million in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period in 2013.

This is partly due to an increase in capacity, which increased by 5.3 per cent as a result of the introduction of new routes to Doha and Newark.
Increased frequencies on existing long-haul routes also played a role, Cathay said in a statement.

The load factor at the airline increased by 2.3 percentage points to 83.6 per cent, but the increase in passenger numbers was at the expense of yield, which fell by 3.5 per cent to HK66.6 cents.

Cathay Pacific chairman John Slosar said: “The operating environment for the Cathay Pacific Group – and the aviation industry as a whole – remains challenging.

“We face significant competition in our passenger business.

“This makes it difficult to maintain yields.”

In addition to reduced passenger yield, principal adverse factors were continued weakness and over-capacity in the air cargo market, the continued high fuel price, and a weak performance from an associated company, Air China.