Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific on March 13 reported an 83 percent drop in earnings amid surging fuel prices and diminishing corporate demand.

The biggest airline in Hong Kong managed to roughly maintain its revenue of about HK$99 billion ($12.8 billion), but rising costs, mainly of fuel, cut its net profit to just HK$916 million, down from HK$5.5 billion a year ago.

"Fuel, as you know, is our single highest cost," Chairman Christopher Pratt said in a news conference in Hong Kong.

Earnings per share fell to HK$0.23 from HK$1.40 a share in 2011. The result is Cathay's worst since 2008, when it lost HK$7.9 billion amid the global financial crisis.