Dragonair's January numbers show year-on-year Increases

Dragonair has reported year-on-year increases in both passenger numbers and cargo volumes for January 2006.

The airline flew 17.6% more passengers than in January 2005 – 398,463, compared with 338,903.

“The year-on-year growth in passengers in January was due to an increase in services, and a rise in both individual and group travellers over the Lunar New Year holidays, which straddled January and February this year,” said CEO Stanley Hui. 

Dragonair operated a total of 55 additional flights in the month to meet demand over the Lunar New Year holidays. The Shanghai, Ningbo, Nanjing and Xiamen routes all recorded double-digit growth, on the back of travel ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Hui noted however, “Yields are seasonally lower as business travel subsided over the holiday period. This, combined with high fuel costs, makes for a very tough operating environment.”

Cargo volumes also posted a year-on-year rise in the month, up 5.3% to 31,341 tonnes.

“The increase was mainly attributable to greater capacity compared with last year,” Mr. Hui said. “Month-on-month the figure was lower, as expected, given that the start of the year is always quieter following the end-of-year peak.”

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