CX Jan Numbers up Despite Bird flu

[Goonybird]

Tuesday February 10, 9:31 PM

HK's Cathay Jan passengers up despite bird flu

HONG KONG, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Tuesday the number of passengers it carried grew four percent year-on-year to a monthly record in January, boosted by holiday travel despite a bird flu scare.

The airline, Hong Kong's main carrier, said in a statement it also chalked up a one-day passenger record during the Chinese New Year holidays. The Chinese New Year usually falls in February, and did last year, but fell on January 22 this year.

"January was clearly out best month ever, and holiday travel demand outweighed the fact that January is not a busy month for business travel," said Ian Shiu, the airline's general manager revenue management, sales and distribution.

"January's figures also show that the airline has, as yet, felt no real impact from concerns about avian flu," he added.

Bird flu began to break out in Asia in January. To date, it has plagued poultry in 10 nations and killed at least 19 people in Vietnam and Thailand. Hong Kong is still free of the epidemic.

Cathay shares fell 1.37 percent on Tuesday to end at HK$14.45 (US$1.85). The stock has gained some 30 percent over the past year.

The airline carried 1.13 million passengers in January, up from 1.11 million in December. The January number represented a four percent increase from the same month last year.

On January 25, the fourth day of the Chinese New year holidays, Cathay carried a record 42,922 passengers.

Over the Chinese New Year holiday period, the airline operated 66 extra pairs of flights to meet demand.

Cathay carried 69,702 tonnes of freight in January, up 2.2 percent from a year ago.

"Even though the early arrival of the Chinese New Year cut short the traditionally busy run-up to the holiday, we still produced positive tonnage growth," General Manager Cargo Kenny Tang said.

Tuesday February 10, 7:14 PM

HK Cathay Pacific Unlikely To Launch Low-Cost Airline

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Hong Kong's biggest airline Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) is unlikely to launch a low-cost carrier, its chairman, James Hughes-Hallett said Tuesday.

Last month, the airline said it was looking into launching a no-frills carrier, in response to plans by its competitors in Asia to launch budget airlines. But Hughes-Hallett said "we're not sure the economics of the low-cost model would work in Hong Kong."

For one thing, he said, there weren't enough cheap secondary airports in Asia to justify the costs.

"There's no other airport in Hong Kong than Chek Lap Kok, for instance," he said, speaking on the sidelines of an event publicizing a logistics conference - "Logistics Hong Kong" in mid-May.

"Also, to operate a cheap carrier, you need a cheap work force. Where can you find that in Hong Kong," he said.

He added that while there were a few short-haul routes like that between Hong Kong and Taipei that could suit the low-cost model, those routes were few.

"Will people be happy flying between Hong Kong and Singapore without food?" he asked. "At this stage, we're unlikely to launch a low-cost carrier."

In December, Cathay rival Singapore Airlines Ltd. (S55.SG) said it planned to launch a low-cost carrier called Tiger Airways in mid-2004, joining other big-ticket carriers like Thai Airways International PCL (THAI.TH) and Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AU) in rolling out services this year.

They are all coming into a field of budget carriers that includes Indonesia's Lion Air, Thailand's Orient Thai and Malaysia's AirAsia.

Meanwhile, Hughes-Hallett said the outbreak of bird flu in the region hadn't affected the airline's operations, in stark contrast to the outbreak of SARS last year, which forced the airline to cut 45% of its weekly flights.

"We've seen a drop in bookings, but that usually happens after Chinese New Year," Hughes-Hallett said. "As far as we can tell, there's been no effect."

[Guest HardRock]

Dude, ... we rock.

[Gumbi]

Bird flu... another media overhyped frenzy!