Cathay Pacific 2011 Annual Report Download - page 9

Cathay Pacific Airways Limited Annual Report 2011 7
Xiamen route, taking the total to four flights per day.
The number of flights on the Ningbo route increased
from seven to 10 flights per week. There are two
flights per day on the Chengdu and Nanjing routes and
one flight per day on the Chongqing route. From
October 2011, a fourth daily flight was added to
Hangzhou.
Dragonair’s capacity was increased on some routes to
secondary cities in Mainland China by using larger
(Airbus A330-300) aircraft.
As cargo demand weakened in the second quarter of
2011, we adjusted schedules accordingly. We also
strengthened our freighter network where appropriate.
We introduced a weekly freighter service to Bangkok,
flying via Singapore, in May and a twice-weekly
freighter service to Bengaluru in August (operating via
Delhi). We also introduced freighter services to
Chongqing and Chengdu in Western China in October
2011 and a service to Zaragoza in Spain in November.
The topping-out ceremony to mark the completion of
civil construction of the new Cathay Pacific cargo
terminal at Hong Kong International Airport took place
in November 2011. The Chief Executive of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region, Donald Tsang,
officiated at the event. The terminal, at which around
1,800 staff will be employed by our subsidiary, Cathay
Pacific Services Limited, is expected to start operating
in early 2013. When fully operational it will be one of
the biggest and most sophisticated air cargo terminals
in the world and will reinforce Hong Kong’s position as
the world’s leading international air cargo hub.
Fleet development
At the end of 2011 there were 93 new aircraft in total
on order, for delivery up to 2019.
In 2011 we took delivery of 13 new aircraft: three
Airbus A330-300s, six Boeing 777-300ERs and four
Boeing 747-8F freighters.
Two new Airbus A320-200s joined the Dragonair fleet
in February 2012.
In March 2011, Cathay Pacific announced the
acquisition of 15 more Airbus A330-300s and 10 more
Boeing 777-300ERs. These aircraft will be delivered
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over the period to the end of 2015. In August Cathay
Pacific announced the acquisition of four more Boeing
777-300ERs and eight Boeing 777-200F freighters.
In January 2012 we announced the purchase of six
more Airbus A350-900s for delivery in 2016 and 2017.
In January 2012, we agreed to lease two new Airbus
A320-200s. These aircraft will be delivered in
November and December 2012.
We expect to take delivery of 19 aircraft in 2012.
The second of four Boeing 747-400BCF freighters was
sold to our cargo joint venture with Air China in July
2011. The remaining two such aircraft are expected to
be sold to the cargo joint venture in the second quarter
of 2012.
Three Boeing 747-400BCF freighters were dry-leased
to Air Hong Kong in order to increase its capacity.
A total of three Airbus A330-300s were dry-leased
from Cathay Pacific to Dragonair, two of which were
dry-leased in 2011. Dragonair’s all Airbus fleet now
totals 32 aircraft.
The four leased Airbus A340-300s parked by Cathay
Pacific during the financial crisis of 2008-2009 will not
return to service. Two of them were returned to their
lessors in 2011 with the other two were returned to
the lessor in January and February 2012.
One Dragonair Airbus A330-300 returned to its lessor
in 2011.
We plan to retire the 21 Boeing 747-400s and 11
Airbus A340-300s in our fleet before the end of the
decade as new, more efficient aircraft arrive. One
Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft was deregistered in
February 2011.
We acquired one Boeing 747-400 aircraft upon lease
expiry in January 2012.
Pioneer in technology
We are developing new reservations, inventory and
check-in systems for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair. We
implemented the first phase of the programme,
covering reservations and inventory, in February 2012,
following extensive testing and training.
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2011 in Review