Cathay Pacific to speed up growth through corporate fliers

10 Oct 2008

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Mumbai: Though the domestic airline industry continues to languish in the doldrums, Cathay Pacific, Asia's third largest airline, is strengthening its India operations. 

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific which flies to a number of destinations around India, the Middle East and Australia, has identified the on Indian corporate traveller as a key segment. It says that its load factor between India and Hong Kong in business class is still higher than that compared to routes on the Hong Kong – US and Hong Kong – UK sectors.

About a year and a half ago, Cathay Pacific increase its staff strength in India from 80 to 220, increasing the number of its services from 12 to 35 a week, and notched up an admirable 250 per cent growth last year.

Amongst its cost rationalisation measures are replacing its few older aircraft with new fuel-efficient planes, even as the carrier posted a loss of $85 million on its global operations during the first-half of the current fiscal, mainly on account of the unprecedented prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

The airline is presently looking at different strategies to offset losses caused by the high ATF costs, and is banking on new fuel-efficient aircraft rather the old ones to save on cost. The rising fuel costs have seen several global airlines pull out of some domestic and international sectors. However, Cathay Pacific has no such plans. 

Cathay offers scheduled passenger and cargo services to 118 destinations across 37 countries. In India, it has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, along with group company Dragonair. Cathay Pacific operates the Delhi-Hong Kong sector twice a day, and has 10 flights a week from Mumbai to Hong Kong.

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