The net fuel cost was, however, partially offset by fuel-hedging losses of HK$3.74 billion compared to hedging gains of HK$1.02 billion during the same period previous year.
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The number of revenue passengers carried by Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in the first half of 2015 grew 8.8% to 16.8 million, and ASKs increased 6.4% year-on-year.
Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Patricia Hwang, said, “July was a busy month for our passenger business with the growth in traffic staying ahead of the increase in capacity, although yield remained under pressure”.
Cathay Pacific chairman John Slosar speaks during a press conference in Hong Kong on August 19, 2015 …
Like other full-service airlines, Cathay is facing competition from low-cost carriers in Southeast Asia, and its lucrative long-haul routes are now being challenged by Chinese carriers which are extending their services to inland cities.
The cargo and mail load factor fell 2.9 percentage points to 61.8%.
Cathay’s shares closed at HK$15.38 ($1.98) on Wednesday, the lowest since November 2014.
“Strong competition, a significant reduction in fuel surcharges, foreign currency movements and the fact that a higher proportion of passengers were connecting through Hong Kong put downward pressure on yield”, Slosar said.
In mid-afternoon trading they were down 7.32 percent at HKD15.56 per share. “The passenger yield decline has been much bigger than expected”, airlines analyst Daniel Tsang told AFP.
“We expect our cargo business to be stable in the second half of 2015”, Slosar said.
Beijing’s central bank shocked financial markets by devaluing its currency last week, sending the yuan plunging and raising concerns fewer Chinese will travel overseas.
Mr Joyce said he was “extremely disappointed” by its decision, after two years of procrastination, not to issue an operating licence to Jetstar Hong Kong, in which Qantas was a minority shareholder.
Passenger capacity rose 6.4 percent to 69.69 billion available seat kilometers.
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However, the global aviation body warned the Asian market was mixed, with some carriers seeing their cargo business “in the doldrums”.
