Cathay Pacific announces sharp fall in business

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Cathay Pacific has announced a substantial decline in passenger numbers, thanks to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and war in Iraq

The airline carried 915,741 passengers in March 2003, a 6% fall from the previous month and 13% fewer than March 2002.

The airline said that the situation seemed to be worsening since the end of March, with business down to a third of normal levels for the time of year. General manager revenue management, sales and distribution Ian Shiu commented: "For the first half of March, passenger traffic held up quite well, but then we began to see a rapid fall off in passenger numbers, as the combined impact of the war and the atypical pneumonia outbreak began to bite."

The announcement follows a profit warning issued by Cathay Pacific on April 11, alerting investors to the likelihood of falling income thanks to SARS and the war in Iraq.