Cathay Pacific Airways carried 1,043,117 passengers in March, a rise of 8.4% over the same month in 2000. The passenger load factor remained relatively stable at 73%. Over the first three months of the year, Cathay Pacific has carried 2.9 million passengers, up 4.2% compared to the same period last year.

In contrast to passenger operations, the amount of cargo carried in March declined by 4.4% to 65,524 tonnes. During the first quarter, Cathay Pacific transported 171,008 tonnes of cargo, 0.4% lower than in the first quarter of 2000.

General Manager Network Revenue Ian Shiu said: “We are seeing a relatively good performance from our passenger operations especially on our Asian routes. Cargo is more of a concern as we have seen signs of softening demand for Hong Kong exports. While the yield for passenger operations has remained steady, cargo yields and load factor have both weakened.”

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