Dragonair Flies Record Number of Passengers, Cargo in 2005

Dragonair Flies Record Number of Passengers, Cargo in 2005 Dragonair Flies Record Number of Passengers, Cargo in 2005 DragonairFlies RecordNUmher ofPassengers, Dragonairflewarecordnumberofpassengersandcarriedarecord amountoffreightlastyear. Thenumberofpassengersin2005 was5'029,285,thefirsttimeDragonair hasflownmorethanfivemilliontravel— lersinoneyear.andanincreaseof9.9% over20o4. ''Itwasgratifyingtosetsucharecord inol/2"20thanniversaryyear,''saidCE0 StanleyHui. Cargovolumesin2005climbed12. 5%over2004totop385,000tonnes. '1lIeresultsaregoodconsideringthe difficultoperatingenvironmentwe endured,withrecordpricesforoiland greatercompetition."Mr.Huisaid. ''Ih币cforbothpassengersandcargo continuedtobeunderpinnedbydemand toandfromtheChinaMainland.'' "Cappingagoodyearoverall,De— cembersawbothpassengerandcargo figuresrisewhencomparedwiththepre— viousyear.'' Decemberpassengernumbersrose 6.8%year—on—yearto421.266.while cargovolumesclimbed8.1%to36.805 tonnes. Lookingahead.MrHuisaid:"Wresee noendtothetoughoperatingenviron— mentthisyear,butweaimtocontinueto deliverhealthvgrowth." DragonairisaHongKong-basedairline, operatingafleetof12A330-300s,sixA321s and10A320s.inadditiontofourBoeing 747.200/一300freighters.onewet—leased A300B4freighterandonewet—leased Boeing747-400freighter.111eairline'spas— sengernetworkcovers31destinationsacross theAsia-Pacificregion.including22desti— nationsinChinaMainland;whileitscargo networkconnectsthemarketsofEurope,the MiddleEast,theUnitedStates,/apan,. wanandChinaMainland.@ 圈 ?II: . SkyPier check—in nitedistheonlyU.S.carrier connectingPearlRiverDelta Regiontooffercustomers ferryserviceandpier—side UnitedAirlinesisthefirstU.S.air- linetooffercustomersconvenienttravel betweenthePearlRiverDeltacitiesand HongKongInternationalAirportusing theSkyPierfetryserviceandpier-side check—in,beginningtoday. ViathetotalroundtnP56dailyferry servicesprovidedbySkyPier,passengers travelfromPearlRiverDeltaRegionto HongKongInternationalAirportcan nowtravelbyusinglesstimeandwith maximumcomfort. "Wearepleasedtomakeiteasier fOrourbusinessandleisurepassengers totravelbetweenthePearlRiverDelta citiesandHongKongInternational Airport,"saidSidneyKwok,general managerforUnitedAirlinesinChina. ''Thisservicewillenableourpassengers toconnecttoorfromtheUnitedStates aswellasontoUnitedflightsbetween HongKongandJapan,Vietnamand Singaporewithease.Thenewservice willfacilitatecost—effective,fastand convenienttravelbetweenHongKong andSoutheraChina.'' UnitedpassengersgototheUnited StatesfromthePearlRiverDeltavia HongKongwillcheckindirectlyatHong KongSkyPier.Unitedpassengerscom— ingfromtheUnitedStatesandtraveling ontothePearlRiverDeltaregionwill enjoymaximumconveniencebyboard- ingtheferrydirectlyatHongKongIn— temationalAirport.Inadditional,passen— gersgototheUnitedStatesfromthePearl RiverDeltaviaHongKongwillnotgo throughHongKongimmigrationandsave thecostofpayingHK$120(US$15.3)for departuretaxatHongKongInternational Airport. "WiththePearlRiverDeltabeingone ofthefastestgrowingeconomiesinChina, wealepleasedtobetheonlvU.S.carrier toofferthisservice,"SidneyKwoksaid. TheSkyPier'shigh—speedferry servesfiveportsinthePearlRiver Delta:Dongguan—Humen,Macau, Shenzhen—Fuyong(nexttoShenzhen BaoanInternationalAirport),Shenzhen— ShekouandZhongshan.Ferriesrunev— ery30to90minutesbetweentheair- portandPearlRiverDeltalocations.de. pendingontheport.Ferryticketsrange inpricefromHK$180(US$23)to HK$330(US$42). Basedondifferentrange.ferries transferbetweenHongKongInterna— tionalAirportandPearlRiverDeltare— gionisavailableinevery30minutesto 90minutes.Forexample,ittakes40min— utesfromShenzhenferryporttoHong KongSkyPier,whileittakes70minutes fromDongguanandZhongshantoHong KongSkyPier. Unitedoffersflightcheck—inforits customersatHongKong'sSkyPier''Ferry TransferDesk''dailybetween08:30and 19:00.Unitedhasfullymettheadditional U.S.TransportationSecurityAdministra— tionrequirementstobeabletopartici— pateinthisfetryserviceandofferpier check..intoitscustomers..—including havingqualifiedsecuritypersonnelatthe SkyPier.@