by millionairemind » Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:17 pm
July 13, 2009, 6.41 pm (Singapore time)
Cathay passenger, cargo figures slide due to H1N1
HONG KONG - Cathay Pacific suffered a 18.1 per cent year-on-year drop in passenger numbers in June, the company said on Monday, as the H1N1 outbreak has severely dampened appetite for travelling.
Combined passenger figures for the Hong Kong carrier and its affiliate Dragonair fell to 1.74 million last month, compared with June last year, the airline said in a statement.
For the year to date, the number of passengers carried has fallen 4.2 per cent.
The drop in cargo traffic last month was the sharpest this year, the statement said. The two airlines carried a total of 124,000 tonnes of cargo and mail in June, down 10 per cent from the same month last year.
Tonnage has fallen 15.4 per cent for the year to date.
Tom Owen, Cathay's general manager for revenue management, said the figures in June were depressed by the ongoing economic downturn and the reluctance of passengers to fly because of the H1N1 outbreak.
'The H1N1 situation had a particularly severe impact in our largest market, Hong Kong, and within the region, especially on Japanese routes,' he said in the statement.
'Aggressive competition for Economy Class passengers in all markets continued to provide very few opportunities for sustainable yield improvement,' he added.
More than 1,200 cases of H1N1 flu were reported in Hong Kong, while Japan's tally of cases topped 2,000 last week. But no death has been reported in either. -- AFP
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