Dragonair Passenger Numbers break Half-Million Mark

Dragonair's monthly passenger numbers in July 2006 reached a record 519,449, a 14% increase over the same month last year and the first time in the airline’s history that it has flown more than half a million customers in one month. The previous record was 481,327 in April this year.

CEO Stanley Hui said, “Systemwide traffic was higher on the back of increased holiday travel, helped by the additional services and charter flights we operated in the month. Underpinning the result was double-digit growth on our Mainland and our Taiwan routes, with outbound traffic from these markets particularly strong. Beijing posted impressive growth, particularly among groups, with Hong Kong the hot destination with travellers from the capital this summer. Shanghai also registered an impressive performance.”

He noted that despite the good performance the bottom line continued to suffer as a result of high oil costs and low yields. “High oil costs and low yields are expected to persist, and these factors will offset any positive growth in numbers. The low yields are the result of a more competitive market, due to airlines putting on more capacity, both passenger and all-cargo, on China Mainland routes.”

Meanwhile, cargo volumes fell 9.3% year-on-year and 4.9% month-on-month due to maintenance work on the freighter fleet, resulting in a reduction in capacity of 6.4%.

“The summer is traditionally a quieter period for shipments, and this coupled with the reduction in capacity due to aircraft maintenance, led to the decline in cargo shipments,” added Mr. Hui. “The situation is expected to improve in August as the full cargo fleet will be back in revenue service.”

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