Aug. 15, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd<0293>, the flagship carrier of Hong Kong, has said Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2.51 million passengers in July 2012, reflecting a YoY decrease of 0.7%.

Passenger load factor for last month rose 5% from a year earlier to 81.1%. Capacity measured in available seat kilometers or ASKs, grew 2.3% YoY.

Meanwhile, the two airlines' cargo and mail throughput reached 125,343 metric tons last month, 10.5% lower than it realized in July 2011. The freight load factor was 64.7%, 1.9 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Capacity, measured in available cargo and mail tone km, declined by 11.4%.

In the first seven months of this year, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair saw the total passenger throughput increase by 7.1% and the capacity in terms of ASKs was up by 6.2%.

The two airlines' cargo and mail throughput for the seven months ended July 31, 2012 decreased by 9.9%. While the capacity, measured in available cargo and mail tone km, dropped 5.4%.

James Woodrow, General Manager of Cathay Pacific Cargo Sales & Marketing, said the company's operation last month was seriously affected by the Typhoon Vicente. While the weak demands in mainland China and Hong Kong will continue in next month. But the new arrival of six Boeing 747-8 airplanes in July promotes its operating economics on main long-haul routes, Woodrow added.