Cathay luring back passenger

JAKARTA: Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific has begun a campaign to lure back Indonesian passengers after the World Health Organization (WHO) lifted its Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) travel advisory on the territory.

Richard Reed, Cathay Pacific's Indonesia country manager, said that from mid-June to Sep. 15 the airline would offer round-trip flights between Hong Kong and Jakarta, Surabaya and Denpasar for US$328.

The airline will also add flights from Jakarta and Denpasar to Hong Kong. From Jakarta, Cathay will have nine flights a week, an increase from the seven during the height of the SARS outbreak. While from Denpasar the number of flights will be increased from four to six.

"We don't expect the passenger traffic to come back overnight, but the campaign is to kick-start the recovery program," he said during a media briefing on Monday.

Cathay is among the many airlines in Asia that have borne the brunt of the SARS outbreak. During the height of the SARS scare, the airline's passenger numbers plunged from an average of 35,000 a day to 6,000 a day.

From Indonesia, the number of passengers dropped by 85 percent, forcing the airline to halve the number of its flights to and from the country. SARS caused Cathay financial loses of $3 million a day worldwide. --JP