Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for February 2008 that show robust growth in the number of passengers carried together with a rise in cargo and mail tonnage.

In February, the two airlines carried a total of 1,954,431 passengers - up 13.9% over the same year in 2007, while the month's load factor was up 2.1% points to 77.6%. Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 15.7%. For the year to date, the 15.9% growth in passenger numbers outstrips capacity growth of 12.8%.

Between them, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried 121,101 tonnes of cargo and mail in February - a rise of 7.6% year on year, while the cargo and mail load factor was up 0.9 points to 64.6%. Cargo capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, increased by 8.3% for the month. For the year to date, cargo tonnage has grown by 8.3% compared to a capacity rise of 9.3%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: "There was a big leap in capacity last month due to new aircraft joining the fleet and a number of key services being strengthened, but passenger growth almost managed to keep pace. Chinese New Year fell in different months in 2007 and 2008, which distorts our figures for January and February, but a comparison of the two months combined confirms the healthy start to the year."

Cathay Pacific Director & General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said: "The market saw a slow recovery after Chinese New Year and yields remain under pressure. However, overall revenue was boosted by strong growth in exports from the United States and the addition of more freighter services to India. US exports are rendered more competitive by the fall in the US dollar, while India's economic growth is driving increased levels of demand for imports."