Cathay Pacific reports first interim loss in five years
06 Aug 2008
Hong Kong: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific reported its first interim loss in five years with chairman Christopher Pratt saying the aviation industry will not be able to ''survive in its current form'' given the galloping price of jet fuel. He also said he expected more small airlines would go bankrupt as the sector makes ''a painful adjustment to the new reality of $100-plus oil''.
Cathay is Asia's third largest carrier by market value.
It reported a net loss of HK$663 million ($85 million) for the first half of 2008, compared with a profit of HK$2.5 billion a year earlier. It said its fuel bill shot up 83 per cent, to HK$19.3 billion, or 45.3 per cent of total operating cost.
Although the airline did try to compensate with fuel surcharges, which rose 63 per cent to HK$6.2bn in the period, they ''have not been able to rise fast enough or high enough to match the rise in fuel price''.
Turnover was up 22.6 per cent, to HK$42.4bn.
Cathay said it would consider reducing the frequency of certain flights on its network and also revision of fares, but ruled out cutting routes or laying off staff.
