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HONG KONG - HONG Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways on Thursday announced improved passenger numbers, attributed to the Chinese New Year falling earlier, but a slump in cargo traffic.
The company and its China-focused unit, Dragonair, said in a statement they carried 2.09 million passengers in January, a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent.
'Our passenger numbers grew in January, a result of the Chinese New Year peak falling one month earlier than in 2008, promotional activities, as well as more capacity being available to sell,' said Tom Owen, the company's general manager for revenue management.
Despite the increase, the proportion of seats filled fell 2.8 per cent from a year earlier to 79.5 per cent, due to an increase in capacity.
The airline said a continuing slump in demand for first and business-class travel was partially offset by an increase in leisure travellers in Greater China and Southeast Asia.
Cathay Pacific said the outlook for demand in premium ticket classes remained 'very weak.' Cargo traffic fell 26 per cent from a year earlier to 101,154 metric tonnes, the company said.
The announcement came just a day after Cathay Pacific said it would expand its global cargo-carrying network with the launch of services to two new destinations in the United States.
'Output from the Pearl and Yangtze river deltas continued to fall and there was no pre-Chinese New Year rush this year to spur the market in Hong Kong,' said Titus Diu, general manager for cargo sales and marketing. -- AFP
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