Strong increase in Dragonair passenger volume for August 2003

Dragonair passenger numbers for August 2003 show an increase of 13% over the same month last year, while cargo volume was 32% greater than last year.

Figures also showed a marked improvement over July 2003. The number of passengers carried in August was 381,589, a 27.6% increase over July's 299,022.

Dragonair's Chief Executive Officer, Stanley Hui said "The substantial increase in passenger volume during August was partly due to the summer holiday season which lured people back to air travel, in particular to holiday destinations, but was also the result of various special promotions that we introduced to stimulate demand".

"While volume was good, yield remains a concern as many tickets were heavily discounted; we do expect it to return to more normal levels from September onwards."

The amount of cargo carried in August was 22,984 tonnes. The strong increase in cargo in comparison to August last year, 17,415 tonnes, is partly explained by the addition of an extra freighter to the fleet in the second half of 2002.

"Cargo figures are extremely encouraging and will remain strong in the next few months as we enter the peak season for freight transport" said Mr. Hui.