Cathay Pacific, one of the leading airlines in Asia, faced a severe crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline’s recovery was hampered by Hong Kong’s tight border restrictions, which reduced its passenger traffic to a trickle. However, the airline is hopeful of turning things around and achieving its first annual profit in two years.
As the tourism industry recovers, Cathay Pacific is optimistic about ending this year with a profit. The airline and its subsidiaries have seen a “strong performance” in the first half of this year, earning a net income of $800 million, according to a Bloomberg report. The airline expects the second half of the year to be even better, boosting its chances of achieving its first annual profit since 2019.
Cathay Pacific is still facing some challenges, such as the global supply chain disruption and the slow hiring and training of staff. However, the airline is happy with the progress it has made after the pandemic crisis. Cathay Pacific anticipates that its passenger traffic will reach 95% of the pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year, which is much higher than its previous forecast of 70% in December 2022.
The airline has been slowly recovering from the pandemic impact in the past few months. By March, it had reached half of its pre-pandemic capacity, showing signs of improvement. This was largely due to China’s border reopening and the easing of COVID-related restrictions in the region.
The recovery process has not been smooth for Cathay Pacific, but the airline has made several changes in the past few months to cope with the situation. The carrier’s Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam stated earlier this year that the airline needs to increase its staff and resume its parked fleet, among other things, to accelerate the recovery process. These measures appear to be effective for the airline.
Cathay Pacific is not only bouncing back, but also planning ahead. In August, the airline group revealed that it will purchase 32 Airbus A320neo family of aircraft to update its fleet and satisfy the growing passenger demand.
Lam also said recently that the carrier is assessing its future fleet requirements further and could look to order more medium-haul aircraft as part of its fleet renewal program. Here’s hoping the airline returns to its pre-pandemic scale sooner rather than later.
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