Hong Kong, 8 August 2017 Hong Kong’s low-fare airline HK Express is pleased to report another month of strong business performance. In July, the airline further demonstrated exceptional operational efficiency with notable increases in passenger numbers, ancillary revenue and Load Factor.

The number of flown passengers across the HK Express route network rose to 344,776 in July, representing a 38.8% increase compared to the same month last year. Over the past 12 months, the low-fare airline flew 3,363,997 guests, a growth of 22.6% compared to the 12 months prior.

HK Express has seen an impressive uptick in Load Factor as well, an industry indicator of operational efficiency. Thanks to the summer travel peak season, the low-fare airline’s Load Factor surged to 92% in July, and 90% in the 12 months prior.

As expected, ancillary revenue continued to soar last month, expanding to 23.2% of total revenue in July and 24.6% of total revenue over the past year.

HK Express reported a 72.1% on-time performance (OTP) rate over the past 12 months and an average of 70.7% OTP rate year-to-date, furthering HK Express’ position as one of Hong Kong’s most reliable and punctual carriers.

At the same time, Guest Complaint Rates remained negligible with 0.17% of guests filing negative feedback in July, averaging just 0.14% of guests over the past 12 months.

“We strive to achieve efficient operations to keep costs low, and to pass the savings on to our guests with affordable fares – while ensuring that they enjoy a smooth customer service experience,” said Andrew Cowen, Director and CEO of HK Express. “Our increasing Load Factor is a clear indicator that we are running well-utilised routes that HK Express guests love.”

In other great news, HK Express celebrated several momentous events last month, including the 1st anniversary of its popular Hong Kong-Takamatsu route. HK Express joined hands with Kagawa Prefecture to roll out the “Kagawa-Takamatsu Itinerary Planning Competition” and appointed Hong Kong’s famous travel writer James Hong and photographer Henry Lo to explore the region as “Travel Intelligence Agents.”

HK Express also announced its new U-Explore (www.klook.com/hkexpress) service in partnership with KLOOK, a local online travel activities booking platform. Accessible via the HK Express checkout portal, U-Explore is an online travel activities planning tool that provides flexible and affordable bookings of tours, experiences theme parks, transfers and Wi-Fi device rentals to its guests.

reward-U (www.reward-U.com), HK Express’ loyalty programme, also celebrated its One Millionth Member milestone last month — just over a year since launching in April 2016. With a real-time reward chart that is tied to the value of the HK Express air tickets, members can enjoy “any seat, any flight, any time redemption” and redeem HK Express flights as long as there are available seats. This not only puts an end to blackout dates, it keeps members incentivised by enabling instant rewards redemption with an effective virtual currency.