Looking ahead to 2026, the Cathay Group will celebrate its 80th anniversary, with a renewed focus on customer experience, safety and strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a global aviation hub
The Cathay Group has reported strong traffic performance for December 2025, closing the year with record-breaking passenger numbers and steady growth in cargo operations. The year-end holiday season proved to be the busiest period, highlighting a sharp recovery and rising demand for air travel.
According to the Group, its two passenger airlines—Cathay Pacific and HK Express—together carried more than 125,000 passengers on a single day on 27 December 2025, the highest daily total in the Group’s history. This milestone was surpassed just days later, on 3 January 2026, when passenger numbers crossed 126,000 in one day.
For the full year 2025, the two airlines carried over 36 million passengers, marking a 27 per cent increase compared with 2024
This growth was supported by a major increase in flight capacity as more routes and frequencies were added. Cargo operations also performed well, with Cathay Cargo transporting over 1.6 million tonnes of goods during the year, up by more than nine per cent year on year.
Cathay Pacific recorded a 22 per cent rise in passengers in December compared with the same month last year. Travel demand was driven by visitors coming to Hong Kong to meet family and friends, students returning from overseas, and strong holiday travel within Asia and to the Chinese mainland. Forward bookings for the Lunar New Year are also showing positive momentum.
Cathay Cargo continued to benefit from demand for fresh produce, machinery and regional trade, despite a slight seasonal dip towards the end of the year. Meanwhile, low-cost carrier HK Express carried over 780,000 passengers in December, reflecting a 24 per cent annual increase.
