Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for September 2007 that show a respectable rise in passenger numbers over the same month last year, while cargo tonnage growth for the month lagged behind the increase in capacity.

In September the two airlines carried a total of 1,891,732 passengers, up 7.2% on the same month in 2006. The passenger load factor was 79.0%, a rise of 3.4 percentage points on last year, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up just 0.6%. For the year so far, the 2.6% rise in passenger numbers is ahead of a capacity increase of 1.6%

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair together carried 150,375 tonnes of freight in September, a rise of 5.1% year on year, though lagging behind a capacity increase of 8.8% for the month. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 2.9 percentage points to 69.1%. For the year to date, the tonnage rise of 2.5% lags behind a capacity rise of 6.8%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: "We were pleased to see another solid passenger performance in September. Demand continued to be strong for front-end travel, particularly on long-haul routes, and should pick up further as we move into the busiest period for corporate travel. Capacity growth has been modest for the first nine months of the year, though it will start to climb from October with the arrival of our new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and the addition of extra flights."

Cathay Pacific Director & General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said: "We were pleased to see a healthy tonnage growth in September, largely driven by continued strong demand out of Mainland China. Northeast Asia remained a problem area with yields still under considerable pressure. We expect to see a pick up in overall demand as the cargo market enters its traditional peak period in the second half of October."

The full figures are as below:

Note:(i)   Comparative figures excluding Dragonair 2006 traffic / capacity
        (ii)   Comparative figures including Dragonair 2006 traffic / capacity