GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: PAC; BMV: GAP) ('the Company' or 'GAP') today announced preliminary terminal passenger traffic figures for the month of July 2008 compared to traffic figures for July 2007.

During July 2008, total terminal passengers decreased 12.3% compared to the previous year; international passenger traffic decreased 10.2%, while domestic passenger traffic decreased 13.3% compared to July 2007.

Compared to June 2007, domestic terminal passenger traffic in June 2008 registered a net decrease of 214.6 thousand passengers, despite increased passenger traffic at the airports of Puerto Vallarta with 11.1 thousand passengers and Los Cabos with 7.1 thousand passengers. Together these airports represented 18.2 thousand additional passengers.

In the case of the Puerto Vallarta airport, the increase was mainly due to an increase in passengers on routes to and from Toluca, Aguascalientes and Monterrey.

At the Los Cabos airport, the increase was mainly due to growth in traffic to and from Toluca and Guadalajara.

However, there was a decline of 232.7 thousand passengers at the airports of Tijuana with 113.8 thousand passengers, Guadalajara with 37.8 thousand passengers, La Paz with 20.0 thousand passengers, Mexicali with 18.4 thousand passengers, Hermosillo with 12.1 thousand passengers, Guanajuato with 10.0 thousand passengers, Morelia with 9.9 thousand passengers, Los Mochis with 6.3 thousand passengers, Aguascalientes with 3.5 thousand passengers and Manzanillo with 0.9 thousand passengers.

In the case of the Tijuana airport, this decline was principally due to a reduction in traffic on the routes to Guadalajara, Mexico City, Culiacan, Guanajuato, Morelia, Hermosillo, Aguascalientes, La Paz, Los Cabos, Acapulco, Uruapan, Tepic and Colima. These decreases were mainly due to the decline in operations from Aviacsa, Aeromexico, Mexicana, Avolar and Aerocalifornia in routes to and from the previously mentioned cities.

The decline at the Guadalajara airport was due to a decrease in traffic on the routes to and from Mexico City, Tijuana, Hermosillo, Puerto Vallarta, Mexicali and La Paz.

The decline at the Mexicali airport was principally due to the decrease in passengers on the routes to and from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Culiacan and Tijuana. This was due to Aviacsa's ceasing of operations at the Mexicali airport on May 12, 2008, which caused declines on the Mexico City and Guadalajara routes, as well as Vivaaerobus, which beginning November 2007 ceased to operate the route to Monterrey.

In the case of the La Paz airport, the decline was mostly due to the decrease in traffic on the routes to and from Tijuana, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Culiacan, Los Mochis and Mazatlan, caused by the fact that Avolar and Aeromexico ceased operations to this airport.

The decline at the Guanajuato airport was mostly due to a decrease in traffic on the routes to Tijuana, Monterrey, Toluca, Mexico City and Morelia. In the case of Tijuana, the decline can be attributable to the substitution effect, since in 2007 certain price-sensitive passengers chose to fly to the southern California area via Tijuana and are currently flying to the U.S. directly. In the case of Toluca, this was due to the fact that Volaris ceased the operation of this route. In the case of Mexico City and Monterrey, the decrease was mainly due to the fact that on May 12, 2008 Aviacsa ceased operations out of the Guanajuato airport.

The reduction at the Morelia airport was primarily due to the fact that Aviacsa ceased operating this route as well as the decline in operations of Aeromexico and Vivaaerobus compared with 2007.

In the case of the Los Mochis airport, the decrease was caused by the reduction in traffic on routes to and from Mexico City, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Hermosillo and La Paz, as well as a decrease in operations from Aeromexico Connect and Aerocalifornia.

International terminal passenger traffic registered a decrease of 72.4 thousand passengers, or 10.2%, compared to July 2007.

However, the following airports experienced an increase in traffic: Puerto Vallarta with 2.3 thousand passengers, Hermosillo with 0.8 thousand passengers and Mexicali with 0.1 thousand passengers.

The increase at the Puerto Vallarta airport was due to the increase in passenger traffic on the routes to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston and Minneapolis.

On the other hand, the following airports experienced decreases in international passenger traffic: Guadalajara with 39.7 thousand passengers, Los Cabos with 12.6 thousand passengers, Guanajuato with 11.0 thousand passengers, Morelia with 3.8 thousand passengers, Aguascalientes with 3.7 thousand passengers, Manzanillo with 3.3 thousand passengers, La Paz with 0.8 thousand passengers, Los Mochis with 0.5 thousand passengers and Tijuana with 0.2 thousand passengers.

In the case of the Guadalajara airport, the decrease was primarily due to the decline in passengers to and from Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and San Jose, California.

In the case of Los Cabos, the decrease was due to a decline in passenger traffic on routes to and from Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Sacramento.

The decrease at the Guanajuato airport was due to the decline in traffic to and from Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta.

Low-Cost Carriers

At the close of July 2008, the weekly schedule of flights operated by LCC's increased by 91 weekly segments compared to June 2008, for a total of 969 frequencies and a total of 54 routes operated by these types of carriers. The decline in frequencies was mainly due to a restructuring of routes and frequencies by the airlines, with the objective of increasing profitability as a result of the highly competitive environment and the increasing cost of jet fuel.

In July 2008, approximately 691.3 thousand passengers were transported by the LCC's, representing approximately 49.33% of the total number of domestic passengers for this month.

Additionally, and as a result of the restructuring of routes and frequencies, several airlines have issued announcements to the media that they will be applying a fuel surcharge to the price of airfare in the future. We consider that specific routes that have price-sensitive customers will be adversely affected. At present we cannot predict the size of the impact that this measure will have on passenger traffic growth.

Recent Events

On July 24, 2008, the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation (Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes)('SCT') suspended Aerocalifornia's operations, which at the close of June 2008, represented 6.1% of GAP's total passenger traffic. This airline operated at five of the Company's twelve airports, representing over 40% of total traffic at the airports of La Paz and Los Mochis.

During the month of June, Aerocalifornia had 230 departures at the Company's airports. Aerocalifornia's only exclusive routes were Los Mochis - Ciudad Obregon (4 weekly outbound frequencies) and Tijuana - Tepic (one weekly outbound frequency), representing less than 7% of Aerocalifornia's total operations with GAP.

Additionally, Avolar was also suspended by the SCT on August 5, 2008 due to alleged non-payment for rights to use national air space. At the close of July 2008, Avolar represented approximately 5.1% of GAP's total passenger traffic and 17% and 25% of total traffic in the airports of Tijuana and Morelia, respectively. Avolar's hub is located at the Tijuana airport.

We expect that the routes or frequencies that were lost due to the suspension of operations at the abovementioned airlines will be gradually replaced by other airlines. Volaris, for example, began operations at the airport of La Paz, on August 1, with flights to and from Tijuana and Guadalajara.

Company Description:

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GAP) operates twelve airports throughout Mexico's Pacific region, including the major cities of Guadalajara and Tijuana, the four tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo, and six other mid-sized cities: Hermosillo, Guanajuato, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis. In February 2006, GAP's shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'PAC' and on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol 'GAP'.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts, and are based on management's current view and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'expects,' 'plans' and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial conditions, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

In accordance with Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and article 42 of the 'Ley del Mercado de Valores', GAP has implemented a 'whistleblower' program, which allows complainants to anonymously and confidentially report suspected activities that may involve criminal conduct or violations. The telephone number in Mexico, facilitated by a third party that is in charge of collecting these complaints, is 800-759-0045. GAP's Audit Committee will be notified of all complaints for immediate investigation.

SOURCE Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V.