Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (“Cathay Pacific” or “CX”) released May 2026 operating data, showing solid double-digit expansion across passenger and cargo segments despite elevated jet-fuel prices.

Passenger Operations • CX carried 2.67 million passengers in May, up 17% year on year. • Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) rose 10% to 12.66 billion, while Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) climbed 13% to 10.99 billion. • Network load factor improved 2.0 percentage points to 86.8%, underpinned by strong post-Golden Week flows, Hong Kong’s Buddha’s Birthday long-weekend traffic, and higher connecting volumes as travellers rerouted away from the Middle East. • For January–May 2026, passenger numbers reached 13.42 million, up 19% versus the same period of 2025; RPKs advanced 16.8%.

Cargo Operations • CX Cargo moved 150,089 tonnes in May, an 11% increase year on year. • Available Freight Tonne Kilometres grew 6% to 1.31 billion; Revenue Freight Tonne Kilometres expanded 6.7% to 0.78 billion. • Cargo load factor edged up 0.3 percentage points to 59.8%. • Year-to-date tonnage rose 8% to 0.72 million tonnes, supported by semiconductor, server and pharmaceutical shipments, notably on Chinese Mainland–Southeast Asia and Europe–Chinese Mainland lanes. • Fleet investment continues with two additional Airbus A350F freighters ordered and one leased A330P2F for subsidiary Air Hong Kong, bringing the A350F commitment to eight aircraft.

HK Express Performance Low-cost carrier HK Express carried 0.67 million passengers in May, 5% higher year on year. ASKs gained 4%, RPKs 5.7%, and load factor improved 1.3 percentage points to 75.4%. Strong demand persisted on Thailand, Philippines and Beijing (Daxing) routes.

Group Total Cathay Pacific and HK Express jointly transported more than 3.3 million passengers in May, a 14% annual increase. Combined network expansion continues, with Cathay Pacific announcing plans to open an Almaty route in early 2027 and HK Express set to start daily Wuxi services in July.

Financial Impact from Air China Share Issue Following Air China Ltd’s A-share issuance completed on 9 June 2026, the Cathay Group’s stake in Air China will dilute from 15.09% to 12.85%, resulting in an estimated deemed disposal gain of approximately HK$1.40 billion to be recognised in 1H 2026.

Outlook Management highlighted a positive summer travel outlook, especially on long-haul routes, and expects cargo demand to remain resilient through June, while monitoring market conditions amid persistently high fuel prices.