6/6/2003 - Cathay Loads Below 20,000 Break Even
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is carrying between 7,000 and 8,000 people a day compared with the 20,000 needed to reach cash break-even, Deputy Chairman David Turnbull said in a recent letter to staff.
Last year at this time, the airline was flying 35,000 a day, the airline said.
"To break even on the profit and loss account, we need around 27,000 passengers per day," Turnbull said in a message in the June issue of CX World, the airline's staff magazine, published this week.
The airline cut 45% of its weekly flights as the outbreak of SARS ate into travel demand.
Ian Shiu, general manager for Cathay's sales and distribution network, said in an interview with CX World that bookings for June and July "have slightly improved" since the World Health Organization lifted its travel advisory May 23.
Still, recovery will take time.
"The summer traffic volume for CX this year will be way below 2002's performance," said Shiu. "Any recovery for us will slow."