On July 11, the Cathay Pacific Group announced that the value of its contribution to help victims of the Sichuan earthquake has topped HK$20 million. A substantial part of the money collected came from the staff of the two airlines in the Group, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair.

Although flight operations became extremely difficult in the wake of the tragedy, Dragonair maintained a daily flight to Chengdu, enabling the airline to support relief efforts by various government departments and non-profit organisations. So far, the airline has given out some 200 free air tickets and carried more than 50 tonnes of relief supplies. Dragonair has now resumed the normal double daily schedule to Chengdu.

On July 11, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler presented a cheque for HK$14.6 million to Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) Chairman Sir Ti-liang Yang to help earthquake victims rebuild their lives. Also present at the cheque presentation ceremony was Mr Sun Wen-xiu, Deputy Director of Economic Affairs Department, Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Tyler said: "We had a superb response from our staff and passengers and the value of our total contribution to the relief effort was HK$20.3 million. I'm pleased to say that a grand total of HK$14.6 million of the money we collected will be donated to the Hong Kong Red Cross which is doing vital work to help the people of Sichuan get back on their feet. Dragonair's service to Chengdu is now back to normal and traffic is gradually picking up on the route, but of course there is still so much work to be done."

Sir Ti-liang Yang said: "Since May 13, the day following the earthquake, HKRC has sent relief workers and medical personnel to three affected provinces - Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi. We are now focusing on providing temporary shelters, schools and clinics to the quake survivors, with various construction projects being completed over the next three to five years. The people of Hong Kong have placed a great deal of trust in the HKRC and we will try our very best to assist the most needy quake victims."

The Cathay Pacific Group kicked off its fundraising effort with seed money of HK$2 million on May 16, pledging to match dollar-for-dollar every donation made by staff until the end of May. This led to another HK$10 million being added to the fund.

The Olympic Torch donated by the airline's Chief Operating Officer John Slosar helped to raise another HK$4 million after it was offered for a fundraising auction on Commercial Radio's The Tipping Point programme. Also, contributions totalling HK$2.3 million were donated by passengers through Cathay Pacific's "Change for Good" and Dragonair's "Change for Conservation" inflight fundraising programmes.

In total the Group collected donations totalling HK$18.3 million while the free air tickets and freight shipments offered by Dragonair had a value of HK$2 million.

Asia Miles, the Group's travel reward programme, has donated a total of 11 million miles to charities including Hong Kong Red Cross, Oxfam Hong Kong and UNICEF. The programme's members have donated a further 10 million miles.

Photograph 1: Cathay Pacific and Dragonair cabin crew joined Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler (left), Sir T L Yang, Chairman of the Hong Kong Red Cross (centre) and Mr. Sun Wen Xiu, Deputy Director of the Economic Affairs Department, Liaison Office of the Central Government in the Hong Kong SAR, at July 11's cheque presentation.

Photograph 2: Chief Executive Tony Tyler said that Dragonair continued its services to Chengdu after the earthquake, offering 200 tickets and shipping 50 tons of freight free of charge to help the relief effort.