Cathay Pacific announced cost-cutting measures on Friday, including the deferral of aircraft deliveries, as the Hong Kong-based airline faced a sharp slowdown in both passenger and cargo traffic.

The airline cut its forecast for 2009 passenger capacity growth to less than 1 per cent, from 6-7 per cent. Tony Tyler, Cathay’s chief executive, also warned that the financial crisis was having “a particularly severe” effect on freight, which accounts for about 30 per cent of its revenues.