ENG-2004 — Page 350

300 Transport

destinations and HKE held three licences to operate scheduled services to four destinations.

CPA commenced codeshare services on passenger flights with Aeroflot to Moscow in June 2004 and with Iberia to Barcelona and Madrid in July. The airline also started passenger services to New York in July. During the year, CPA increased the frequency of scheduled passenger services to Bahrain, Beijing, Brisbane, Colombo, Dubai, Manila, Melbourne, Riyadh, Sapporo, Sydney, Surabaya and Taipei. In June, the airline launched a joint freighter operation with Lufthansa Cargo AG to Munich. CPA also announced its participation in the new B747-400 passenger-to-freighter conversion programme. At least six CPA aircraft are committed for the programme which will make CPA the first airline in the world to operate these freighters in 2005. CPA recorded monthly record highs in passengers in December and air cargo shipment in October. At the end of the year, CPA operated scheduled services to 49 destinations worldwide.

HDA continued to expand its network. The airline launched scheduled passenger services to Tokyo in April and resumed services to Harbin for the winter season. In the year, the airline also started codeshare services with Air China to Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian and Tianjin. It launched scheduled all-cargo services to Nanjing in June and to Frankfurt and London Stansted in July. The airline recorded a monthly record high in passenger and air cargo shipment carried in October. At the end of the year, HDA operated scheduled services to 33 destinations, including 19 cities in the Mainland.

AHK focused on developing its network in Asia. The airline launched scheduled all-cargo services to Taipei in March and Penang in September. It also expanded its services to Bangkok and Osaka. Services to Seoul were suspended in October. At the end of the year, AHK operated scheduled services to six destinations in Asia.

Helicopters Hong Kong Limited changed its name to Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd (HKE) in November to align with its plan to expand services using fixed wing aircraft.

As regards non-Hong Kong airlines, Valuair and Jetstar Asia Airways started scheduled passenger services between Singapore and Hong Kong in May and December, respectively. Transmile Air resumed its all-cargo services between Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong in November after suspending them in August 2003.

Three airlines suspended their services to Hong Kong in 2004. Two suspended their passenger services: Pacific Airlines between Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hong Kong in June; and President Airlines between Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Hong Kong in July. Scandinavian Airlines suspended its all-cargo services between Gothenburg and Hong Kong in October.

Oil prices surged during the year. To recover part of the increase in fuel cost, airlines levied a fuel surcharge on passenger and cargo services.

With respect to the development of helicopter services, preparatory work was necessary to expand the existing cross-boundary heliport on the roof-top of the