For Cathay Pacific, 2010 was a year of superlatives. Last year Cathay and its Dragonair subsidiary carried 26.8 million passengers, up 9 per cent from 2009 and more than in any other year in the company's history.
And passengers were only half the story. The airline also carried a record 1.8 million tonnes of freight, up a handsome 18 per cent from the year before.
Even better, Cathay's aircraft were fuller last year, both of passengers and cargo, and customers were paying more. Passenger yields - the price paid for every kilometre flown - were up 20 per cent, while cargo yields climbed 25 per cent.
The result of all this booming traffic was a 34 per cent increase in revenues and a near 150 per cent rise in the airline's operating profit. Add in the profit on the sale of its stake in aircraft maintenance company Haeco and a couple of other one-off gains, and Cathay notched up net profits last year of a record HK$14 billion, tripling 2009's figure.
Announcing the company's results yesterday, an understandably pleased chairman Christopher Pratt declared that Cathay is now 'probably the world's most profitable airline'.
Pratt's boast may hold good only until the end of the month, when Air China announces its own 2010 results. But even if Cathay's profits are eclipsed, the Hong Kong airline's bosses will still have plenty of reason to cheer. With an 18.7 per cent stake in its mainland rival, Cathay stands to benefit handsomely from the expected surge in profits at Air China.