Passenger numbers and cargo volumes continued to record year-on-year rises in October. Dragonair flew a total of 498,129 passengers in the month, up 4.9% on last year, while freight volume rose 2.8% compared with the same month in 2006.

"October is traditionally a busy month for travel, and this was reflected in the fact that the number of passengers flying then was 9.3% higher than in September," said Dragonair CEO Kenny Tang. "Individual travel picked up very fast following the National Day holidays, mainly due to a number of conferences and exhibitions being held in Hong Kong and the mainland.

"Among the routes that performed very well last month was Beijing. It recorded strong growth due to increase in business traffic to and from the city.

"In fact, the Hong Kong and China markets have maintained a strong growth trend since the middle of the year."

Meanwhile, 35,692 tonnes of cargo was carried in October, a 2.2% month-on-month decline.

"The long holiday in China led to lower uplift volume in the early part of the month," said Mr. Tang. "However, shipments picked up in the latter half as we embarked on the start of the end-of-year peak season.

"To meet demand over the coming period we plan to add one more weekly freighter flight to New York in November. That, combined with the entry into service of our first 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter this month, will ensure we are able to offer more options to our freight-forwarding clients."