Cathay Pacific releases March 2005 traffic figures

In March the airline carried 1,262,901 passengers, up from 1,158,154 in February, with an upturn in leisure travel over the Easter holiday and an inbound influx for the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament held in Hong Kong, a significant number of which came from the UAE.

At the same time the airline carried 96,860 tonnes of freight in March, an 8.1 percent increase from 73,420 tonnes carried in February. The March cargo load factor dipped 5.7 percentage points from the same month last year to 67.3 percent as US charter operators injected more temporary capacity into the market in response to the usual end of quarter cargo peak.

Cumulatively over the quarter, the airline recorded a 17.1 percent increase in the number of passengers carried - ahead of a corresponding 12.8 percent increase in capacity measured in terms of Available Seat Kilometres (ASK). In Southeast Asia and Middle East alone, ASK stood at 1,455,135, up 14.8% from the same period last year. Cargo grew a slower 3.8 percent over the period.

Cathay Pacific Country Manager for UAE and Oman Philip Herbert said: "A good Easter and the Rugby Sevens contributed to strong continued passenger growth. Still, competition and pricing on both regional and long-haul services remained keen, even on routes with high loads. Rising fuel prices continued to erode the bottom line as surcharges only partially covered our additional costs. "

On the cargo business, Mr. Herbert revealed: "Our cargo business from the UAE continued its strong business proving that UAE is an important trade point."

Cathay Pacific's strength was further boosted by the launch of its services from Dubai-Hong Kong-Xiamen recently. Passengers from Dubai can now fly to the Chinese city three times weekly via Hong Kong. This new route also signifies stronger business ties between the Gulf and China with its growing trade relations.

"Xiamen represents a landmark destination for Cathay Pacific. Xiamen is the Mainland's fourth largest international airport and we are pleased that Cathay Pacific will help drive tourism traffic between Dubai, Hong Kong and Xiamen by making seamless same-carrier connections to more than 90 destinations across our global network," concluded Mr. Herbert.