Dragonair's passenger and freight numbers ease in May 2004

After a busy April for Dragonair, the week-long "Golden Week" holiday in early May resulted in lower passenger numbers and cargo volumes for the month.

Dragonair flew 328,675 passengers during the month, 13.9% fewer than in April, but 992.3% higher than in the same month last year during the SARS outbreak.

"Tourist traffic from Mainland cities to Hong Kong was strong in the early part of the Golden Week holiday," said Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui, "however, traffic to the Mainland, both business and leisure, declined significantly over the holiday period as some people decided to avoid the crowds and put off their holidays until later." 

The Golden Week holiday also affected cargo shipments, which declined 9.9% month-on-month to 24,373 tonnes, with factories closing down part or all of their operation during the period. However, compared with the amount of cargo carried in the same month last year there was an increase of 13.7%.

"The underlying trend for cargo remains strong, which is why we are adding a wet-leased A300B4 freighter to our fleet this month," Mr. Hui said. "So far this year shipments are already 22.0% higher than during the same period last year."