China Eastern Airlines has posted a 16% rise in passenger traffic in September, with both the international and domestic sectors experiencing double-digit growth.
Domestic RPKs increased 20% from a year before, regional RPKs fell by 13% and international RPKs rose by 11%, giving an overall jump of 16%, says the Shanghai-based carrier. The regional segment refers to traffic from Hong Kong and Macau.
The airline responded to the decline in regional passenger traffic by cutting capacity, as measured by ASKs, by 6% in September and transferring it to other markets. Total ASKs rose by 17%, with domestic ASKs up 24% and international ASKs growing by 5%.
The increase in capacity meant that the total passenger load factor fell by 0.8 percentage points to 70.1%. The load factor fell by 2.5 percentage points to 71.3% in the domestic market, while the regional passenger load factor dropped 4.9 percentage points to 60.9%. However, the international load factor increased by 3.3 percentage points to 68.2%.
In real terms, the total number of passengers rose 19% to 3.66 million. The domestic passenger numbers were up 22% at 3.17 million, international numbers rose 9% to 349,000 and regional fell 8% to 137,000.
The airline's cargo business also recovered in September, with total revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) rising 23%. Domestic RFTKs increased 37% and international RFTKs increased 20%, although regional RFTKs fell 14%.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
