On May 14, Cathay Pacific Airways released traffic figures for April 2007 that show the combined Cathay Pacific/Dragonair passenger load factor rising above 80% for the first time this year, spurred by the long Ching Ming and Easter holiday in Hong Kong early in the month. The cargo load factor slipped by almost 5 percentage points, however, as the downturn in the market continued.

The two airlines together carried a total of 1,929,655 passengers in April, up 2.2% on the same month last year and ahead of a rise in capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), of 1.2% for the same period. The passenger load factor was 80.4%, marking a rise of 0.9 points on April 2006. The year-to-date load factor was 78.2% - up 0.7 points on last year - while the passenger total was up 1.1% on 2006.

The amount of cargo carried by Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in March was 128,193 tonnes - a dip of 1.7% on the same month the previous year compared to a 3% rise in capacity measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres. The tonnage carried for the first four months was down by 1.3% to 500,752 tonnes, with capacity for the same period rising by 3.9%. The month's cargo load factor was down by 4.8 points against last April at 64.9%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management, Sales & Distribution Ian Shiu said: "Our passenger business in April got a welcome boost from the Ching Ming/Easter holiday in Hong Kong, but we actually enjoyed good load factors throughout the month. The positive business sentiment in Hong Kong continues, which is helping to keep loads high in the front end. Bookings for the three summer peak months are encouraging and we are now starting to see greater synergies between the complementary networks of Cathay Pacific and Dragonair."

Cathay Pacific Director & General Manager Cargo Ron Mathison said: "The cargo market was softer than anticipated in April and was slow picking up after the Easter holidays. North Asian exports, in particular, seem to be suffering as a result of strong local currencies and a general shift in manufacturing to China. Demand out of the Mainland remains strong and our new freighter service to Beijing is doing well."