Cathay Pacific Hopes that by 2025 It Will Be Back to Pre-Pandemic Capacity

While Cathay Pacific Group hasn’t recovered just yet, their continued commitment to recovery is inspiring. The airport group predicts that 70% of the airline’s pre-pandemic passenger capacity will be deployed by the end of 2023. Meanwhile, they’ve adjusted their recovery forecast to complete recovery by the end of 2024.Cathay Pacific Group has plans to reduce the number of flights by 70% over the next five years in order to reflect the expected effects of a pandemic.

Cathay Pacific Group, including passenger carriers Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express, is committed to restoring connectivity and capacity for their passengers.

The airline group announced that it aims to offer 70% of its 2019 passenger capacity by the end of 2023. If this scenario were to come true, Cathay Pacific Group would be recovering earlier than expected from COVID-19 pandemic.

With the recent changes in anti-epidemic measures, such as the lifting of the three-day mandatory self-quarantine and self-monitoring policy, we are happy to announce that Cathay Pacific Group will add 3,000 more flights during October and December 2022.

Cathay Pacific Group plans to increase capacity amid relaxed travel restrictions

With the member airlines on track, Group CEO Augustus Tang believes that the goal for 2022 is achievable by the end of the year.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Express and the group’s partners have agreed to double capacity offered in August after deploying a total of 30 flights on routes. Commenting on the announcement, Mr Tang emphasized how Cathay Pacific Group is forced to operate differently in Hong Kong because of its unique situation.

“The city’s borders shut down for much longer than other markets, and pilots were under the unique constraint of being quarantined in Hong Kong for months. Obviously, this had a tremendous impact on our work and recovery timeline versus carriers that weren’t part of a domestic market.”

What are some of the obstacles and problems facing the Cathay Pacific Group right now?

According to Cathay Pacific’s CEO, the airline can count on the right number of pilots, cabin crew, and operational employees to support the airlines’ flight schedule up to the end of 2022. Additionally, they are running an extensive hiring process which will ensure this condition continues to be met throughout the recovery.

The main challenges facing the airline are drawing pilots back into the industry and managing an increasingly low capacity air-fleet. According to ch-aviation, Cathay Pacific (CX) currently has almost half its fleet grounded, with 87 aircraft being inactive as compared to 101 active jets. Hong Kong Express also faces the same issue with exactly half their fleet (13 aircraft) currently grounded.

The Cathay Pacific Group is confident that the Hong Kong government will remove travel restrictions, enabling the airline group to achieve recovery plans successfully. With plans for Hong Kong to potentially restate their status as a central international travel hub, Cathay Pacific believes they’ll be able to continue to complete three runways at Hong Kong International Airport by 2024.