Seventy-five per cent passengers lost. Twenty-two aircraft grounded. Scheduled flights reduced to half. US$ 3 million burnt a day. Yes, that was the effect of SARS on Cathay Pacific Airways. However, the airline is turning around. The flight, yours truly, took out of the city on July 15 was full. The June traffic figures show recovery signs with 459,627 passengers flying (still down by 54 per cent as compared to June 2002), up from 243,976 in May. "We will restore 170 flights each week in July and aim to operate a full schedule by late September. However, competition remains keen on ticket pricing and it will take some time to break even," said Betty Law, corporate communications manager, Cathay Pacific.

Had it not been for the prompt action on the part of the carrier, such a quick turn around would not have been possible. Cathay's early initiatives - like Early Bird deals and World Pass offering discount fares - to bring visitors back to Hong Kong saw selling of more than 80,000 tickets in an overseas sales drive coordinated across its global network. It was also instrumental in forming the Tourism Coalition with other industry partners, with its COO Philip Chen as the convenor. The coalition launched 'We Love Hong Kong', a community-wide campaign aimed at boosting local economy by encouraging people to get out and spend. At the moment and until the end of the year, the airline is very much in a recovery mode from the devastation of SARS. It has donated 10,000 free tickets in support of HKTB's effort to rebuild the local tourism industry.

Further, it is involved in changing the negative perception of passengers and agents about Hong Kong and promoting the city through various deals as a desirable leisure destination and as an attractive transit point for travel to the rest of the world. Two current promotions running in India are 'Visit Hong Kong Now!' and 'Hong Kong on the House!', both launched to entice travellers back to Hong Kong in the wake of SARS. Both offers include up to three nights free hotel accommodation when purchasing a ticket to Hong Kong at the super value price of Rs 19,700. For those passengers who opt to travel to Cathay destinations beyond Hong Kong, they can get a further two nights free or 'on the house!'

Commenting on their plans vis-à-vis India, Tom Owen, country manager - India, Nepal, Bangladesh, said, "We would like to expand our operation in India and we are therefore working towards additional flights to Delhi and Mumbai. Hopefully, 2003-04 will see an increased frequency for Cathay to and from these cities. We would also like to fly out of a third port in South India, which is of growing importance to the Hong Kong market."