• 

  Cathay Pacific

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  CX/CPA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Hong Kong International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1946

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  CEO:

  Ronald Lam

  Country:

  China (Special Administrative Region)

  Region:

  Asia

In some rare but welcome good news for the airline, Cathay Pacific has confirmed it will operate its full pre-pandemic cargo schedule this month. As recently as May, the Hong Kong-based airline was flying around half its pre-pandemic monthly cargo capacity, but the tide appears to be turning, and over July, Cathay Pacific will be back operating between 90 and 100 dedicated cargo flights a week.

The tide turns for Cathay Pacific's cargo business

Cathay Pacific usually operates a substantial cargo business, including flying a dedicated fleet of Boeing 747-400 and 747-8 freighters. While demand for cargo space has remained strong throughout the pandemic, operational constraints, including unworkable quarantine regimes, meant Cathay Pacific couldn't fully reap the benefits.

Cathay Pacific Cargo Director Tom Owen calls the last two years a very challenging time for the airline but says July is an important month for Cathay's cargo division.

"Through the toughest points, we have always tried to put as much cargo capacity as we can into the market, so now is an exciting time for us as we start to rebuild our overall network and schedule," Mr Owen said in a statement.

"The big news for this month is the resumption of our full freighter schedule. We will be operating between 90 to 100 freighters each week. For the Americas, that means about 35 transpacific freighters a week, and there will be a daily freighter service to Europe. We're also planning to operate more than 500 cargo-only-passenger flights a month around the region, which will also provide strong lift over the next few months to feed our reactivated long-haul freighter services."

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Changes afoot in Hong Kong?

There's a sense the worst may be over for Hong Kong's embattled aviation industry. Cathay Pacific only flew a total of 57,982 passengers in May. That's better than May 2021's numbers but still 98% down on May 2019 levels. The airline operated about 34% of its monthly pre-pandemic cargo flight capacity in May. However, the lockdowns in China's tier-one cities had a significant impact there. As lockdown restrictions eased in late May, Cathay's cargo business began to improve.

Pre-pandemic, passenger and cargo flights into mainland China comprised a core part of Cathay Pacific's overall business. The airline has only operated a fraction of its normal flights into mainland Chinese cities since the pandemic began. But there are signs China and Hong Kong is stirring and easing restrictions ever so slightly. As a result, there's some movement in the aviation industry regarding Hong Kong.

Some airlines, usually on the receiving end of decent (albeit often informal) intelligence, are beefing up schedules into Hong Kong later this year, and Cathay Pacific's cargo business is swiftly adjusting back to pre-pandemic capacity. Korean Air is sending its A380 back to Hong Kong in September. Changes could be afoot.

"We are delighted that we can finally put this capacity back into the long-haul market, and we owe our Operations and Planning teams a huge debt of thanks for getting this up and running so quickly," said Mr Owen. "As well as being able to offer a better service, the income is very important for us as an airline group because our passenger flight capacity is still constrained – but that too is starting to rebuild over the coming months."