Yoga apparel company opens first Asian store
Yoga-inspired athletic apparel company lululemon athletica has entered Hong Kong’s retail market with the opening of its first Asia-Pacific retail showroom in Hong Kong on October 25.
The new showroom will be a hub for the Hong Kong health and fitness community. Focused on fit, function and fabric, lululemon aims to educate its customers on choosing the technical clothing that will be the best fit for their activities. The showroom will operate as a retail shop Thursdays through Saturdays; and complimentary yoga classes, workshops, seminars and other fitness classes will be organized on other days.
As the company’s first retail presence in the region, this showroom also will serve as lululemon’s regional retail hub, covering Japan as well as the greater China markets.
The showroom is an important addition to the company’s current presence in more than 90 locations across the U.S., Canada and Australia. The company will continue to explore the possibilities for expansion.
Associate Director-General of Invest Hong Kong Simon Galpin welcomed lululemon to Hong Kong. “We are delighted that lululemon has chosen Hong Kong to establish its first Asia-Pacific retail showroom. It signifies the company’s confidence in our retail market supported by our ever-increasing yoga-practicing community.”
Mr. Galpin added that Hong Kong offers promising market opportunities to companies like lululemon. “Ours is a fast-paced city, and people here have become increasingly interested in improving their health and fitness. Generally well-educated and affluent, many of them have found yoga a good way to release stress and achieve better work-life balance. We look forward to the success of this showroom and working together with the company in its future expansion,” he said.
Cathay’s passenger and cargo traffic drop
The combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for September 2008 showed a fall in both passenger numbers and cargo and mail tonnage compared to the same month last year.
In September, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 1,878,080 passengers, a 0.7% year-on-year decline. This compares to a 14.2% growth in capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), over the same period. September’s load factor was down 6.7 percentage points to 72.3%. The number of passengers carried year-to-date rose 10% compared to a 14.5% capacity increase.
The two airlines carried a total of 141,570 metric tons of cargo and mail in September, a 7.3% year-on-year drop against a 4.7% fall in capacity. The cargo and mail load factor fell by 2.6 percentage points to 66.5%. Year to date, cargo and mail tonnage grew 3.7% compared to a capacity rise of 3.5%.
Airline opens new arrival lounge
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An overview of The Arrival lounge. |
On October 1, Cathay Pacific Airways opened The Arrival — Hong Kong International Airport’s first airline-branded arrival lounge.
The new lounge, developed in response to customers’ growing needs for arrival facilities, will provide passengers who have just landed in Hong Kong with a convenient place to freshen up before heading into town.
The interior design of The Arrival, located in the center passage connecting Terminal 1 with Terminal 2 at the airport, features key elements developed from Cathay Pacific’s award-winning departure lounges in Hong Kong, The Wing and The Pier.
The facilities and services offered at The Arrival include a buffet dining area with a wide selection of quality food and drinks; desktop computers with Internet access and Wi-Fi connections; a full range of local and international newspapers; and eight fully equipped shower suites.
The Arrival is open to First Class passengers, Gold or above members of the Marco Polo Club and oneworld Emerald passengers arriving on flights operated by Cathay Pacific or Dragonair and whose final destination is Hong Kong. The new lounge will not cater to passengers connecting through the Hong Kong hub and will not be for passengers traveling on airlines other than Cathay Pacific or Dragonair.
Airport traffic volumes decline
Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 3.6 million passengers and 317,000 metric tons of cargo in September 2008, declining 4.7% and 7.5%, respectively, compared to the same month last year. Air traffic movements edged down 0.4% to 24,570.
Reduction in passenger traffic is mainly due to a drop in visitor traffic while travel by Hong Kong residents and transfer/transit passenger numbers decreased slightly. On the cargo front, the decline was across the board, including import, export and transhipment.
Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Authority Stanley Hui said the steep decline in traffic volumes in both passenger and air cargo clearly reflected a very troubled global economy as a result of the financial tsunami that has affected all countries in the world.
The U.S. and Europe, the biggest trading partners with Hong Kong and China, saw a significant drop in air cargo traffic to/from Hong Kong in the month.
The National Day Golden Week holiday also brought fewer visitors to Hong Kong by air this year compared to 2007, showing a continuing decline in traffic between Hong Kong and mainland China as well.
“Given the very difficult operating environment and shrinking demand in the economic slowdown, airlines are expected to further scale back their operation or put on hold their expansion plans. The aviation industry is expected to face even more difficult times in the coming months,” said Mr. Hui.
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