DRAGONAIR SEES MONTHLY RISE IN PASSENGER NUMBERS FOR OCTOBER, YEAR-ON-YEAR INCREASE IN FREIGHT

Dragonair saw a month-on-month rise in the number of passengers flying in October, and a year-on-year increase in the amount of freight carried.

The airline carried 261,009 passengers in the month, a 6.3% rise over the 245,494 who travelled in September. The figures represented a slight drop of 2.7% in the number of passengers who flew with Dragonair in October last year.

“The current economic situation and the events of September 11 in the US are having an affect on our business, but we have been cushioned by the strength of the mainland China market,” said Stanley Hui, Chief Executive Officer.

“We have a very mainland China focused network, and demand there has held up relatively well, with the figures speaking for themselves.”

“We believe this points to the traditionally peak Christmas and New Year season being a busy one for us, and advance bookings do look encouraging.”

On the cargo side, the airline posted a 23.6% jump in the amount of freight carried in October compared with one year earlier: 12,008 tonnes against 9,716 tonnes. The month-on-month figure was off by 3% (12,420 tonnes in September).

“The mainland market has held up very well, and it is in line with the seasonal peak of the cargo market,” Mr Hui said. “Again, we are expecting the cargo figures to remain healthy relative to other markets for the rest of the year.”

He added: “We’ll be building on this cargo demand in the future, especially now that our two purchased freighters are operational and frequencies to Europe have been raised to five times a week.”

Dragonair is a Hong Kong-based airline, operating a fleet of seven A330-300s, three A321s and seven A320s, in addition to two Boeing freighters. It is currently in the midst of a programme to more than double its fleet by the end of 2005. The airline's passenger network covers 27 destinations across the Asia-Pacific region, while its cargo network connects the markets of Europe, the Middle East, Japan and China.