A statement issued here said that for the third month in a row, cargo and mail tonnage showed an increase compared to the same month in 2011, but was some way short of the tonnage achieved in November 2010.

It said that the Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,361,137 passengers in November an increase of 3.8percent compared to the same month last year.

The passenger load factor rose by 0.7 percentage points to 79.2 percent, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), showed a 4.3 percent decrease.

For the year to date, the passenger numbers have risen by 5.2 percent compared to a capacity increase of 3.3 percent.

The two airlines carried 140,824 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to November 2011.

The cargo and mail load factor fell by 1.4 percentage points to 63.9 percent. Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, rose by 5.1 percent, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown rose by 2.8 percent.

For the year to date, tonnage has declined by 6.1 percent against a capacity drop of 3.5 percent. Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management James Tong said: A combination of fewer flights and using more of the fuel-efficient, but smaller, Boeing 777-300ERs on long-haul routes brought down our overall capacity in November.

However, we continued with our strategy to strengthen our regional network, adding a new Dragonair service to Kolkata. Passenger numbers were satisfactory in the Economy cabin on long-haul routes, but demand in the premium cabins continued to be weaker than expected, especially within the region.

Yield remained under pressure in all classes.