1,734,103 passengers for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in January 2007

Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for January 2007 which for the first time include figures from its wholly owned subsidiary, Dragonair.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair together carried a total of 1,734,103 passengers in January 2007, down 3.5% compared with the combined figure for the same month last year. However, an accurate year-on-year comparison is difficult because the Chinese New Year holiday peak was in January in 2006, whereas this year it falls in February.

This means the January 2006 figures for revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) flown were inflated by extra flights - primarily to the Mainland and Northeast Asian destinations - that were added to meet seasonal demand. This also explains the 1.4 percentage point drop in passenger load factor to 77% for January 2007. Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), rose by 1.8% year-on-year.

Dragonair itself carried 332,891 passengers in January with a passenger load factor of 55.2%.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair together carried 122,551 tonnes of cargo in January, marginally down on the same month in 2006. The combined cargo load factor for the two carriers was 62.2%, down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu commented on the results, "Advance loads for the Chinese New Year holiday period for both Cathay Pacific and Dragonair are promising. Both airlines are operating more additional flights to meet peak demand and we are looking forward to a strong performance in February. In addition, demand for long-haul flights, especially in the front end, continues to be strong"

Cathay Pacific Director & General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said, "It was a slow start for cargo in January as the market took time to regain its momentum after the Christmas and New Year period. Chinese New Year falls much later this year and that also explains the relatively low loads. There is a lot more capacity in the market, and Hong Kong is facing challenges from airports in the Pearl River Delta region, but we remain committed to growing our network and investing in our home hub. In mid-January, Cathay Pacific took delivery of its fourth 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF), while Dragonair received its second 747-400 BCF this month."

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