14 July 2008

CathayÃ¢â¬â¢s concern aids earthquake victims

HONG KONG - The Cathay Pacific group says the value of its contribution to help victims of the Sichuan earthquake has topped HK$20 million (US$2.5m).

A substantial part of the money collected came from the staff of the two airlines in the group, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair.

Although flight operations became extremely difficult in the wake of the tragedy, Dragonair maintained a daily flight to Chengdu, enabling the airline to support relief efforts by various government departments and non-profit organisations.

So far, the airline has given out some 200 free air tickets and carried more than 50 tonnes of relief supplies. Dragonair has now resumed the normal double daily schedule to Chengdu.

Cathay Pacific chief executive Tony Tyler has presented a cheque for HK$14.6 million (US$1.8m) to Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) chairman Sir Ti-liang Yang to help earthquake victims rebuild their lives.

Speaking at the ceremony, Tyler said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe had a superb response from our staff and passengers and the value of our total contribution to the relief effort was HK$20.3 million there is still so much work to be done.Ã¢â¬~

Sir Ti-liang Yang said, Ã¢â¬ÅâœSince May 13, the day following the earthquake, HKRC has sent relief workers and medical personnel to three affected provinces - Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are now focusing on providing temporary shelters, schools and clinics to the quake survivors, with various construction projects being completed over the next three to five years.Ã¢â¬~

The Cathay Pacific group kicked off its fundraising effort with seed money of HK$2 million (US$320,000), pledging to match dollar-for-dollar every donation made by staff until the end of May. This led to another HK$10 million being added to the fund.

Asia Miles, the groupÃ¢â¬â¢s travel reward programme, has donated a total of 11 million miles to charities including Hong Kong Red Cross, Oxfam Hong Kong and UNICEF. The programmeÃ¢â¬â¢s members have donated a further 10 million miles.