Cathay Pacific Releases Combined Traffic Figures for April 2009

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for April 2009 that show passenger numbers rising compared to the same month last year, helped by the Easter peak, while cargo and mail tonnage showed another significant drop.

In April, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair between them carried a total of 2,251,526 passengers - a rise of 8.8% compared to the same month in 2008 - while the load factor rose by 3.2 percentage points to 82.6%. Capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), rose by 1.1%. For the year to date, the number of passengers carried is up by 0.2% against a capacity rise of 0.3%.

The two airlines carried a total of 123,179 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, down 13.3% on April 2008. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, fell by 12.2%, while the cargo and mail load factor dropped by 1.9 percentage points to 65.7%. For the year to date, tonnage has fallen by 17.3% compared to a capacity drop of 13.6%

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Tom Owen said: "Comparisons with last year are materially skewed by the fact that Easter fell in different months in 2008 and 2009. This month's increase in passenger volume was therefore a result of capturing the uptick in demand for travel over the short Easter peak, and our continued attempts to stimulate weak Economy Class demand for the rest of the month. The slump in demand for premium traffic continued unabated across the network, and this, combined with lower fares and adverse currency movements, again placed significant downward pressure on yields."

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Titus Diu said: "The cargo story for April was very much in line with the first quarter of 2009, with continued weakness in the global airfreight business overall and soft demand out of Hong Kong and the main manufacturing areas in China. Easter added to the woes, particularly into and out of Europe, and the fierce competition in all markets continued to put pressure on our cargo yield. On the upside, our new freighter routes - Houston and Miami in the US, and the Jakarta/Ho Chi Minh City service - continued to make a positive contribution to our business."

The Cathay Pacific website can be found at www.cathaypacific.com