Taildragger67
25th Mar 2002, 16:02
Looks like the worst of the doom and gloom may hopefully be behind:. .. . Bangkok, March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. plans to return the aircraft it grounded after the September terrorist attacks by the end of this year because demand has. .started recovering and it needs them for new flights.. . Asia's sixth-largest carrier by sales had grounded a total of seven planes by early March, five passenger aircraft and two cargo planes, after the attacks cut demand and economies weakened further. It earlier this month decided to put one plane back into service to handle new flights it will add to London and Tokyo.. . Three of the six aircraft will be back in traffic by the end of the first half, Ivan K.L. Chu, regional manager for southeast Asia, said in an interview in Bangkok. "Hopefully by the end of. .the year, we'll bring them all back into service.''. . Cathay filled 78.4 percent of available seats with paying passengers in February, 10.8 percentage points more than the same month last year. The gain came partly because the Lunar New Year holiday, when demand typically increases, was in February this year, while it was in January last year.. . Hong Kong's dominant long-haul airline is putting the planes back into service because demand is improving, mainly in Asia, Chu said. "This should be a better year than last year,'' Chu said.