Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific has been "hit hard" by die global financial crisis with a significant drop in the number of first and business class travellers, senior managers said.

Cadiay's chief executive Tony Tyler said that concern had shifted from the sky-high price of oil earlier in the year to weak passenger numbers.

"In die first half of die year the problem was very much a cost crisis caused by runaway fuel prices, but now -- in the midst of a global financial meltdown -- we are also being hit hard on the demand side," he wrote in the company's internal newsletter, released Wednesday.

"The fact that revenue growth is stalling in our biggest market, Hong Kong, is a serious worry.

"We are very exposed to die financial industry here and when banks, our biggest corporate customers, cut or even just curtail dieir travel plans we know we can expect to be in for a rough ride.

"1 wish 1 had something more optimistic to say but the truth is that Cathay Pacific - and the airline industry as a whole - has entered another very troublesome period," he added.

The company has experienced a fall-off in passengers travelling in the most lucrative seats in both August and September, said James Tong, Cathay's general manager of sales for Hong Kong and China.