Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008

2
Our Business
Our Business
Cathay Pacific was founded in Hong Kong in 1946 and
we remain deeply committed to our home base, making
substantial investments to develop Hong Kong as one of
the world’s leading global transportation hubs. In addition
to our aircraft fleet, these investments include catering
services, aircraft maintenance facilities, ground handling
companies and the corporate headquarters at Hong Kong
International Airport (HKIA).
The Cathay Pacific Group is part of the Swire
Group of Companies, with Swire Pacific as the
largest single shareholder. We have our own
listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
There were no significant changes in 2008
regarding size, structure or ownership of the
Cathay Pacific Group.
Overview of 2008
2008 was a difficult year for us; despite a
15% rise in turnover, we reported a loss of
HK$8.6 billion, of which HK$7.6 billion was
our mark to market unrealised losses on our
2009-2011 fuel hedging contracts. Business
during the first half of the year was generally
strong. However, the global financial crisis
impacted the second half adversely, reducing
demand and further affecting our financial
results, despite the drop in fuel price. Further
details of our financial performance can be
found in our 2008 Annual Report available at
www.cathaypacific.com.
Despite the difficulties, there were
nevertheless many positive developments
for Cathay Pacific. These included the arrival
of new fuel-efficient aircraft, addition of new
destinations, enhancements of our passenger
services and the continued rollout of new
innovative three-class cabins on our medium
and long-haul aircraft.