Cathay Pacific and Dragonair combined passenger volume up 19.5%

Airline to cater growing demand to and from Hong Kong on both long-haul and regional routes.

Cathay Pacific Airways on Wednesday released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for July 2010 which show a significant increase in the number of passengers and amount of cargo and mail carried compared to the same month last year.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,485,244 passengers in July – up 19.5% on the same month last year. The passenger load factor was 87.5%, a rise of 4 percentage points, while capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 8.8%. For the first seven months of 2010, the number of passengers carried was up by 10.1% compared to an ASK rise of 1.1%, according to a Cathay Pacific report.

The two airlines carried a total of 157,374 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, up 18.1% on July last year. The cargo and mail load factor was 76.0%, a rise of 3.4 percentage points, while capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 21.3%. For the year to date, tonnage has grown by 23.4% compared to a capacity increase of 9.2%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Tom Owen said: "Passenger demand remained firm as we moved into the normal summer peak month. In particular, demand to and from Hong Kong grew on both long-haul and regional routes compared to last year. The China market was also quite solid. Responding to the seasonal demand, we operated a number of extra sectors to cater for our Hong Kong based passengers. We are also adding capacity in the last quarter to enhance the network available from the Hong Kong hub as well as providing more scheduling convenience for our customers.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing James Woodrow said: "We saw a significant rise in our capacity in July as all previously parked freighters were returned to service, but the increase in tonnage was almost on a par due to sustained strong demand out of our key markets. Demand to Europe was softer than for transpacific routes but we have been encouraged by the strengthening of inbound loads into Hong Kong and China, which has helped to drive up our overall cargo and mail load factor.”