Cathay Pacific Airways today released traffic figures for May 2007 that show passenger traffic rising over the same month last year, while the amount of cargo carried lagged behind the increase in capacity.

In May, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair together carried a total of 1,830,439 passengers, up 1.8% on the same month last year, while the passenger load factor for the month rose by 0.1 percentage points to 75.1% The rise in capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, was 1.0%. For the year to date, the two airlines have carried 9,076,795 passengers - up 1.2% on the same period in 2006 - while capacity has risen by 1.7%

The amount of cargo carried by Cathay Pacific and Dragonair last month was 127,653 tonnes - a rise of 1.5% over May 2006. Capacity for the month, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up 4.2% while the cargo load factor was down by 2.2 percentage points to 65.9%. For the first five months of 2007, the tonnage carried dipped by 0.8% against the same period last year while capacity was up by 3.9%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: "May is generally one of the quieter months for passenger traffic so we were pleased to see the number of passengers carried staying ahead of the rise in capacity. Demand in the front end remains buoyant and the overall market sentiment is positive, so we are feeling pretty confident about our passenger business as we move into the summer peak"

Cathay Pacific Director & General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said: "Air cargo is facing increasing competition from ocean cargo as a result of higher jet fuel prices. At the same time, freight rates are under pressure due to the influx of extra freighter capacity in the region. Demand, however, is still growing strongly out of Mainland China and into the Indian subcontinent and we remain confident about the long-term growth prospects in Asia"

The full figures are as below:

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