Category Archives: Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific celebrates 75 years of bringing people together

Cathay Pacific Airways is celebrating its 75th Anniversary with this announcement:

Customers can join the celebrations with limited-edition memorabilia and first-class dining experiences that commemorate the past, present and future.

Cathay Pacific celebrates an important milestone in its history as it marks 75 years of creating meaningful human connections.

Over the past three-quarters of a century, Cathay Pacific has grown from a small regional airline to one that has thrust its way out across the globe from its energetic home city, Hong Kong. Throughout it all, Cathay Pacific’s enduring purpose has been to connect customers to the people, places and experiences they love the most. To mark this special occasion, Cathay Pacific is unveiling a variety of exciting opportunities for customers to join it in marking 75 years of bringing people together, from paying homage to history, celebrating the power of connection or looking forward to a re-energized future.

Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “Cathay Pacific has seen exhilarating successes over the past incredible 75 years. We’ve connected people to many new destinations, welcomed the arrival of state-of-the-art aircraft and introduced exciting customer experience enhancements, to name a few. We have also experienced unprecedented challenges, such as the global pandemic, which we are all still overcoming. What these over seven decades have shown is that we are a resilient brand.

“What has never changed is our unyielding commitment to our loyal customers, our dedicated people and our wonderful home city, Hong Kong. We wouldn’t be the company we are today without the enduring support they have shown us, and we are incredibly grateful to each and every one of them. We hope they will join us in marking our 75th anniversary, and we look forward to many more journeys together.”

Own a piece of history

Cathay Pacific has created a special series of limited-edition merchandise commemorating more than seven decades of connection.

Customers have the opportunity to get one of 1,000 special collector’s box sets each featuring seven aircraft models, from the airline’s very first Douglas DC-3 aircraft, “Betsy”, to the newest member of its fleet, the Airbus A321neo.

Meanwhile, 435 limited-edition pen and cardholder sets have been crafted out of aluminium reclaimed from B-HUJ, the airline’s final Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft, and engraved with a unique serial number.

Customers can also give their luggage a touch of history with limited-edition aviation-themed luggage tags. Each has been formed from the body of Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-200 B-HND aircraft – affectionately called the “Haneda Jet” – which joined the fleet on 13 June 1996 and carried more than six million passengers over her lifetime.

Cathay Pacific has also partnered with Hong Kong lifestyle brand G.O.D. to upcycle uniforms from its crew into a selection of accessories and homewares, from stylish patchwork cushion covers to cross-body bags, pouches and teddy bears.

All 75th anniversary memorabilia is available exclusively on the new Cathay shopping platform: please click here.

A taste of celebration

Cathay Pacific is also launching its first-ever cocktail collection, created in collaboration with award-winning craft-bottled cocktail brand LAIBA and available exclusively in Hong Kong. The four creations – Hong Kong Lemon Tease, Shanghai Spicy Martini, London Ginger Snap and Osaka Kanpai Sour, are inspired by some of our signature routes.

Meanwhile, customers wishing to discover the quintessential Cathay Pacific First Class experience can do so at Salisterra at The Upper House in Hong Kong, which is offering an exclusive celebration menu between 20 September and 17 October 2021. The menu features Cathay Pacific’s signature Imperial caviar paired with Krug Grande Cuvée, Champagne, France, NV and Château Lynch Bages, Bordeaux, France, 2008 from its legendary wine cellar – all served with Cathay Pacific’s signature tableware.

Reservations must be made through the new Cathay shopping platform: please click here.

Bringing the future to the present

While Cathay Pacific celebrates the past, it continues to bring innovation to every aspect of its offering. Earlier this year, Hong Kong’s home airline launched “Cathay”, a premium travel lifestyle brand that is designed to offer more for our customers, whether that’s in dining, shopping, events, wellness, flights or hotel getaways. The first of these offers, a new Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard Credit Card, has already been launched, followed by an upgraded Cathay app combining one-stop dining and digital payment.

Cathay Pacific is also innovating in the air with the launch of its new Airbus A321neo aircraft, which offers customers the world’s most enjoyable short-haul experience. The A321neo offers new levels of comfort, privacy and storage space, not to mention world-first inflight entertainment upgrades.

These fuel-efficient aircraft also help Cathay Pacific’s continued pursuit of greener aviation as it aims to reach its target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This commitment makes Cathay Pacific one of the first airlines in Asia to establish a timeline for making carbon neutrality a reality.

Own a piece of history

Explore our range of limited-edition merchandise, created especially for this anniversary. Aluminium reclaimed from B-HUJ, our record-breaking, final Boeing 747-400 plane, has been moulded into sleek pen and cardholder sets. Aviation tags have been crafted from B-HND, our loyal Boeing 777-200. And pre-loved cabin and cockpit crew uniforms have been revamped by Hong Kong lifestyle brand G.O.D. into stylish accessories, teddy bears and more.

We’ve also created a selection of special 75th anniversary collector’s aircraft models, spanning each era of Cathay Pacific. And for a modern twist on history, we’ve collaborated with LAIBA to design cocktails exclusively available in Hong Kong, inspired by four of the routes that helped put Cathay Pacific on the map.

Cathay Pacific Airways history:

In 1946, Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantzow – two ex-Air Force pilots known for flying ‘The Hump’ over the Himalayas – had the idea to fly much-needed goods from Australia into post-war China. From there came Cathay Pacific, an airline fuelled by its founders’ passion for flying and love of the region.

In fact, our very name originates from Roy Farrell’s sense of ambition – that the new airline would one day cross the vast Pacific Ocean from China. This progressive thinking and optimism for the future was proven right less than thirty years later with our first transpacific flight.

Cathay Pacific Airways slide show:

Cathay Pacific’s traffic is still down 97.6% versus July 2019

Cathay Pacific released its traffic figures for July 2021 that continued to reflect the airline’s substantial capacity reductions in response to significantly reduced demand as well as travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in place in Hong Kong and other markets amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 54,092 passengers last month, an increase of 25.8% compared to July 2020, but a 98.4% decrease compared to the pre-pandemic level in July 2019. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rose 22.6% year-on-year, but were down 97.6% versus July 2019. Passenger load factor increased by 5.1 percentage points to 28.5%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 0.7%, but remained 92.9% down on July 2019 levels. In the first seven months of 2021, the number of passengers carried dropped by 95.2% against an 81.9% decrease in capacity and a 94.3% decrease in RPKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.

The airline carried 121,600 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 19.1% compared to July 2020, but a 28.4% decrease compared with the same period in 2019. The month’s revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) rose 17.8% year-on-year, but were down 20.8% compared to July 2019. The cargo and mail load factor increased by 5.4 percentage points to 81.8%, while capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was up by 10.1% year-on-year, but was down 38.9% versus July 2019. In the first seven months of 2021, the tonnage decreased by 12.7% against a 26.7% drop in capacity and a 15.2% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.

Passenger

Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said: “Our passenger capacity in July dropped slightly by 3% month-on-month. We operated only 7.1% of our July 2019 pre-pandemic passenger capacity. We did see some improvements in demand. We carried a total of 54,092 passengers in July, averaging 1,745 per day. On 29 July, we carried 2,585 passengers, the most in a single day so far in 2021. Meanwhile, our passenger load factor of 28.5% was the highest it’s been over the past 12 months.

“Transit traffic from the Chinese Mainland to the US and Canada remained robust. On top of that, we captured a few pockets of demand for flights from the Chinese Mainland to Southeast Asia, in particular to Jakarta and Hanoi. The increase in demand compensated for the loss of traffic from flights that remained suspended last month, notably from the UK, the Philippines and Indonesia. Meanwhile, we resumed passenger services to Auckland, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Tel Aviv and Wuhan.

Cargo

“Cargo capacity in July increased 12.1% month-on-month, driven by the full resumption of our freighter schedule and a 33% increase in cargo-only passenger flights. All sales regions and route groups recorded healthy tonnage growth proportional to the increase in capacity, ensuring we sustained a high load factor of 81.8% across the month.

“We saw more active movement of vaccines in July and we have now surpassed the milestone of 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines carried to locations around the world.

Outlook

“We welcome the Hong Kong SAR Government’s latest simplifications to the entry requirements for passengers into Hong Kong. However, COVID-19 and the associated travel restrictions and quarantine requirements that are in place both in Hong Kong and around the world continue to dampen passenger demand for air travel. Furthermore, our ability to service our passenger and cargo markets remains affected by quarantine and other COVID-19-related requirements impacting our aircrew.

“We hope to be able to operate approximately 30% of our pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the fourth quarter of 2021. However, this is highly dependent upon operational and customer travel restrictions being relaxed. As governments around the world have said, this will only be possible when sufficiently high vaccination rates are achieved.

“We are incredibly grateful to the 88% of our Hong Kong-based employees, including 99% of pilots and 91% of cabin crew, who have already booked or received their vaccinations. Furthermore, all of our aircrew continue to show exemplary professionalism in adhering to stringent anti-pandemic measures while overseas. So far this year, there have been zero positive tests among the more than 75,700 tests that our operating Hong Kong-based aircrew have taken in the days following their arrival in Hong Kong.

“Looking ahead on the passenger front, student traffic to the US and the UK is expected to give us a slight boost to our business in August and September, respectively. Flights on peak dates are already full, and flights on earlier departure dates are also likely to see increased bookings as demand continues to come in. We also marked the inaugural flight of our new Airbus A321neo to Shanghai (Pudong) earlier this month, as we progressively resume more flights to the Chinese Mainland and the region.

“On the cargo side, overall demand is trending upwards despite us entering the traditionally quieter summer months for cargo. As such, there is good momentum building up as we move towards the cargo peak season.

“Nevertheless, we are still facing many challenges to both our passenger and our cargo business as the COVID-19 situation in different parts of the world continues to evolve.”

AIRLINES COMBINED TRAFFIC	JUL	% Change	Cumulative	% Change
	2021	VS JUL 2020	JUL 2021	YTD
RPK (000)
– Chinese mainland	20,795	217.9%	81,045	-89.4%
– North East Asia	8,874	25.8%	35,101	-98.3%
– South East Asia	19,094	-23.8%	110,980	-95.2%
– South Asia, Middle East & Africa	5,757	–	8,808	-99.4%
– South West Pacific	19,564	-31.0%	87,489	-97.2%
– North America	155,418	20.9%	514,227	-90.5%
– Europe	68,377	44.2%	247,776	-93.5%
RPK Total (000)	297,879	22.6%	1,085,426	-94.3%
Passengers carried	54,092	25.8%	211,236	-95.2%
Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000)	753,812	17.8%	4,055,049	-15.2%
Cargo and mail carried (000kg)	121,600	19.1%	671,087	-12.7%
Number of flights	1,592	39.7%	7,956	-52.8%

AIRLINES COMBINED CAPACITY	JUL	% Change	Cumulative	% Change
	2021	VS JUL 2020	JUL 2021	YTD
ASK (000)
– Chinese mainland	71,367	122.2%	322,977	-74.7%
– North East Asia	52,709	60.8%	288,677	-90.4%
– South East Asia	82,772	-21.7%	531,902	-85.9%
– South Asia, Middle East & Africa	27,989	–	48,204	-97.9%
– South West Pacific	281,377	160.6%	1,216,162	-72.9%
– North America	368,390	-34.5%	2,080,586	-74.6%
– Europe	159,077	-18.5%	722,303	-87.4%
ASK Total (000)	1,043,681	0.7%	5,210,811	-81.9%
Passenger load factor	28.5%	5.1pt	20.8%	-44.9pt
Available cargo/mail tonne km (000)	921,492	10.1%	4,979,425	-26.7%
Cargo and mail load factor	81.8%	5.4pt	81.4%	11.1pt
ATK (000)	1,020,894	9.1%	5,475,303	-42.5%

Cathay Pacific Airways returns to Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh International Airport made this announcement:

Cargo operations at Pittsburgh International Airport will get another boost with the return of twice weekly flights from Cathay Pacific Airways.

Cathay Pacific starts service on August 2, 2021, with its Boeing 777-300ER passenger planes that have been converted for cargo, with plans to serve PIT through the end of the year.

Planes will arrive on Mondays and Fridays and depart the next day. Cargo onboard the aircraft is for the garment industry.

The aircraft will start their flights from Hanoi, Vietnam, stopping at Cathay Pacific’s Cargo Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport before flying nonstop to PIT. Cathay Pacific initially started cargo service to PIT in September 2020 with 20 flights.

Cathay Pacific tells its flight crews to get vaccinated by August 31

Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong) has told its remaining flight crews it must be vaccinated or they risk losing their jobs. The airline has given them a August 31 deadline.

90% of its pilots and 65% of its cabin crew have been vaccinated according to the airline.

Reuters: Cathay Pacific working with Airbus on single-pilot system for long-haul

From Reuters:

“Cathay Pacific, Airbus collaborating on single-pilot project
Program targets 2025 launch on Cathay A350s – sources
Airlines stand to save on long-haul crew costs

Cathay Pacific is working with Airbus to introduce “reduced crew” long-haul flights with a sole pilot in the cockpit much of the time, industry sources told Reuters.”

Read the full article: EXCLUSIVE Cathay working with Airbus on single-pilot system for long-haul | Reuters

(PRNewsfoto/Cathay Pacific Airways)

Cathay Pacific’s traffic is down 94% in March 2021

Cathay Pacific has released its traffic figures for March 2021 that continued to reflect the airline’s substantial capacity reductions in response to significantly reduced demand as well as travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in place in Hong Kong and other markets amid the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

Cathay Pacific carried a total of 18,539 passengers last month, a decrease of 94% compared to March 2020. The month’s revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) fell 95.7% year-on-year. Passenger load factor dropped by 28 percentage points to 21.2%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), decreased by 90%. In the first three months of 2021, the number of passengers carried dropped by 98.4% against a 91.7% decrease in capacity and a 98.2% decrease in RPKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.

The airline carried 83,329 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a decrease of 30.1% compared to March 2020. The month’s revenue freight tonne kilometers (RFTKs) fell 32.4% year-on-year. The cargo and mail load factor increased by 8.9 percentage points to 86.4%, while capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs), was down by 39.4%. In the first three months of 2021, the tonnage fell by 29.6% against a 39.6% drop in capacity and a 26.5% decrease in RFTKs, as compared to the same period for 2020.

Passenger

Cathay Pacific Group Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said: “Our passenger business continues to face significant challenges. With the tightened crew quarantine requirements in Hong Kong, we only managed to maintain a skeleton schedule in March, operating passenger services to just 18 destinations. That represented a capacity decline of 47% when compared with February. Average daily passenger numbers decreased even further to just 598, compared to 755 in February.

Cargo

“Our overall cargo capacity was constrained by the stringent crew quarantine requirements in Hong Kong, resulting in a 39.4% year-on-year reduction in capacity. This was despite our efforts to operate more cargo-only passenger flights as well as chartered freighter flights from our subsidiary, Air Hong Kong.

“Cargo demand was strong in March, particularly from Northeast Asia and the Americas, while demand from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland also ramped up during the latter half of the month. Load factor improved to an all-time high of 86.4%, whilst the revenue share for our Priority LIFT product continued to increase as customers sought express solutions for their critical shipments.

“Just this week, the Government announced that it would lift the mandatory quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Hong Kong-based aircrew on freighters and cargo-only passenger flights from today. This will have a positive impact on our cargo business while also progressively reducing our monthly operating cash burn.

“Health and safety remain our top priority; we will remain vigilant and our aircrew will continue to adhere to our stringent risk-mitigation measures. Vaccinated aircrew will add a further layer of protection and risk mitigation against the spread of COVID-19.

“Our tight overseas layover control measures, and our crew’s professionalism in adhering to them, have been very effective in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our customers, our people and the public. As a result so far this year, there have been zero positive tests among the more than 18,500 tests that our operating Hong Kong-based aircrew have taken in the days following their arrival in Hong Kong.

Outlook

“We welcome and support the government’s plan to use ‘vaccine bubbles’ as the basis for introducing further relaxation measures, including those relating to cross-boundary travel. This provides a framework under which fully vaccinated people could benefit from shorter or no quarantine requirements when traveling, such as via an Air Travel Bubble, which we are eagerly anticipating.

“Community-wide vaccination is pivotal to the global COVID-19 recovery. We have recently launched a campaign to encourage all of our employees, including aircrew, to get vaccinated as soon as possible, and we are very pleased to see that this has already received a positive response. We are grateful to all of our people who have already received or booked their vaccination, and we will continue with our efforts. This will not only help facilitate the return of regular international air travel and preserve vital connections between Hong Kong and the rest of the world, but most importantly it will also safeguard the health and wellbeing of them and their families.

“We’ve also continued to build on the momentum in moving vaccines both to Hong Kong and across our network, and earlier this week we passed the significant milestone of having so far shipped 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.”

AIRLINES COMBINED TRAFFIC	MAR	% Change	Cumulative	% Change
	2021	VS MAR 2020	MAR 2021	YTD
RPK (000)
– Chinese mainland	9,649	-69.5%	24,710	-96.7%
– North East Asia	3,466	-93.0%	14,051	-99.3%
– South East Asia	11,501	-94.8%	46,643	-97.9%
– South Asia, Middle East & Africa	–	-100.0%	–	-100.0%
– South West Pacific	2,914	-99.1%	35,277	-98.8%
– North America	34,146	-94.2%	161,569	-96.8%
– Europe	15,245	-96.6%	40,882	-98.9%
RPK Total (000)	76,921	-95.7%	323,132	-98.2%
Passengers carried	18,539	-94.0%	70,083	-98.4%
Cargo and mail revenue tonne km (000)	503,057	-32.4%	1,687,540	-26.5%
Cargo and mail carried (000kg)	83,329	-30.1%	274,556	-29.6%
Number of flights	961	-48.3%	3,176	-73.6%

AIRLINES COMBINED CAPACITY	MAR	% Change	Cumulative	% Change
	2021	VS MAR 2020	MAR 2021	YTD
ASK (000)
– Chinese mainland	36,680	-39.9%	119,834	-89.8%
– North East Asia	29,681	-77.9%	118,040	-95.9%
– South East Asia	55,187	-89.5%	251,296	-92.7%
– South Asia, Middle East & Africa	–	-100.0%	–	-100.0%
– South West Pacific	19,759	-96.9%	508,493	-88.0%
– North America	185,288	-83.9%	940,682	-86.9%
– Europe	35,480	-95.8%	247,530	-95.3%
ASK Total (000)	362,075	-90.0%	2,185,875	-91.7%
Passenger load factor	21.2%	-28.0pt	14.8%	-54.5pt
Available cargo/mail tonne km (000)	582,431	-39.4%	2,072,724	-39.6%
Cargo and mail load factor	86.4%	8.9pt	81.4%	14.5pt
ATK (000)	616,888	-52.7%	2,280,650	-61.7%

Top Copyright Photo: Cathay Pacific Airways Airbus A321-251NX WL D-AZAD (B-HPE) (msn 10171) XFW (Gerd Beilfuss). Image: 953389.

Cathay Pacific aircraft slide show:

Cathay Pacific Cargo develops solution for vaccine distribution

Cathay Pacific Airways made this announcement:

Cathay Pacific Cargo has built on its many years of experience in transporting pharmaceutical shipments to develop a vaccine solution specifically for the fast and effective distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the globe.

Cathay Pacific Director Cargo Tom Owen said: “With our 20 dedicated freighters and cargo bellies of passenger aircraft supporting our extensive freighter network, we stand ready to assist with what will be the biggest humanitarian response to a situation involving civil aviation that anyone has ever seen.”

Ultra Track

Cathay Pacific Cargo is progressively rolling out Ultra Track as a key part of the vaccine solution. The next-generation track-and-trace system monitors information including temperature, GPS location, and humidity, using low-energy Bluetooth readers. This gives shippers and forwarders near real time visibility, and ensures vaccines will remain within their transportation temperature ranges.

Operations Control Center

In addition, shipments using Ultra Track will also be monitored by the newly established Operations Control Centre. Based in Hong Kong, and staffed by dedicated cargo professionals 24/7, the team can instruct ramp and cargo terminal staff to take proactive steps to ensure the various storage requirements of vaccines are maintained.

Owen said: “Ultra Track will allow forwarders to monitor the condition of their vaccine shipments in near real time. It will be progressively rolled out through the first quarter of this year, and we will be offering the service free of charge for any COVID-19 vaccine shipments.”

CEIV Pharma accreditation

The combined approach follows on from an airport-wide recertification of IATA’s CEIV Pharma accreditation (the internationally recognized quality-assurance scheme for pharmaceutical shipments) at Hong Kong International Airport. Cathay Pacific Cargo, the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal managed by Cathay Pacific Services Limited (CPSL) and ground-handling subsidiary Hong Kong Airport Services (HAS) have all been re-certified, offering a complete level of quality assurance at every stage of the import and tran-shipment journey.

Airport Authority Hong Kong General Manager Aviation Logistics Alaina Shum said: “Hong Kong International Airport advocates and supports the airport community in its CEIV Pharma recertification, which helps to cement its status as the world’s leading and busiest cargo airport.”

The Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal is being expanded to offer more temperature controlled capacity. While it is currently able to temporarily hold and transit 6.6 million doses of vaccine a day, there is more to come. Cathay Pacific Cargo’s Owen says: “We have just expanded so that it can handle more than seven million doses, and there will be more cold storage coming online soon. This new cold room storage will be able to handle a further 1.6 million doses.”

“With the vaccine being so valuable and in such limited supply, it’s critical that we get it right at every stage of the journey. We are confident about meeting the challenge, and we stand ready to play our part.”

To read more about Cathay Pacific Cargo’s vaccine-handling capabilities, please click here.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cathay Pacific Cargo has been operating a full freighter schedule using its fleet of 14 Boeing 747-8F freighters and six 747-400ERFs (Extended Range Freighter). It has also operated thousands of pairs of cargo-only passenger flights, some with cargo loaded in the passenger cabins, and chartered hundreds of pairs of flights from its all-cargo subsidiary Air Hong Kong to add additional air freight capacity.

Above Copyright Photo: Cathay Pacific Airways Cargo Boeing 747-867F B-LJA (msn 39238) ANC (Michael B. Ing). Image: 951742.

Cathay Pacific aircraft slide show:

Cathay Pacific to resume London Heathrow flights

Cathay Pacific flights from Hong Kong to London-Heathrow (LHR) will resume on January 12, 2021 in order to assist passengers needing to travel to the United Kingdom.

In light of the HKSAR Government’s ongoing ban on all flights from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong and the more stringent CAP. 599H requirements, flights from London and Manchester will remain suspended.

Our flight schedule for the period January 12 to 24, 2021 is as follows:

From Hong Kong to London Heathrow

CX251 – Departing on January 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21 and 24, 2021

From London Heathrow to Hong Kong

CX252 – Cancelled until January 25, 2021

Cathay Pacific aircraft photo gallery:

Cathay Pacific aircraft slide show:

Cathay Pacific to cut seven loss-making routes

Cathay Pacific Airways, according to South China Morning Post, is planning to drop seven loss-making routes.

The seven routes to be cut are to Brussels, Dublin, London (Gatwick), Male (Maldives), Newark, Seattle/Tacoma, Washington (Dulles).

Cathay Pacific aircraft photo gallery:

Cathay Pacific Group will cease Cathay Dragon operations, and reduce workforce and passenger capacity

Cathay Pacific Group has made it official:

The Cathay Pacific Group has announced a corporate restructuring in response to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation market.

The restructuring will enable the Company to secure its future, so it can protect as many jobs as possible, whilst meeting its responsibilities to the Hong Kong aviation hub and its customers.

The Group will create a more focused, efficient and competitive business. It will do this by harnessing Cathay Pacific’s strengths and unparalleled customer experience, while leveraging the potential of its low-cost carrier, HK Express.

Major elements of the restructuring include:

Reducing approximately 8,500 positions across the entire Group, which accounts for around 24% of its established headcount. Through a recruitment freeze and natural attrition, the Group has been able to reduce this to 5,900 actual jobs (or 17% of its established headcount). This means some 5,300 Hong Kong-based employees being made redundant, and approximately 600 employees based outside of Hong Kong also possibly being affected subject to local regulatory requirements.

Cathay Dragon, the Group’s wholly owned regional subsidiary, will cease operations with immediate effect. It is intended that regulatory approval will be sought for a majority of Cathay Dragon’s routes to be operated by Cathay Pacific and HK Express, a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Hong Kong-based cabin and cockpit crew members of Cathay Pacific will be asked to agree to changes in their conditions of service which are designed to match remuneration more closely to productivity and to enhance market competitiveness.

Executive pay cuts will continue throughout 2021 and a third voluntary Special Leave Scheme for non-flying employees will be introduced for the first half of next year. There will be no salary increases for 2021 nor the payment of the annual discretionary bonus for 2020 across the board for all employees. Outport colleagues will be subject to local arrangements.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “The global pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on aviation and the hard truth is we must fundamentally restructure the Group to survive. We have to do this to protect as many jobs as possible, and meet our responsibilities to the Hong Kong aviation hub and our customers.

“Our immediate priority is to support those affected by today’s announcement. We are deeply saddened to part ways with our talented and respected colleagues, and I want to thank them for their hard work, achievements and dedication.”

Cathay Pacific will be offering severance packages that go well beyond statutory requirements. It will also be extending medical benefits and staff travel entitlements, as well as providing counselling and job transition support services. There will be no offset against pension contributions.

Mr Tang said: “We have taken every possible action to avoid job losses up to this point. We have scaled back capacity to match demand, deferred new aircraft deliveries, suspended non-essential spend, implemented a recruitment freeze, executive pay cuts and two rounds of Special Leave Schemes.

“But in spite of these efforts, we continue to burn HK$1.5-2 billion cash per month. This is simply unsustainable. The changes announced today will reduce our cash burn by about HK$500 million per month.

“We have studied multiple scenarios and have adopted the most responsible approach to retain as many jobs as possible. Even so, it is quite clear now recovery is going to be slow. We expect to operate well under 25% of 2019 passenger capacity in the first half of 2021 and below 50% for the entire year.”

On Cathay Dragon, Mr Tang said: “Over its 35 years, Cathay Dragon has earned a well-deserved reputation for excellence, thanks to its outstanding service and distinct hospitality, delivered by a remarkable team.

“Whilst this is a difficult time, we are a resilient Group and a proud Hong Kong brand. I believe in this plan and I know we will prevail. We remain absolutely confident in the long-term future of Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong aviation hub and the critical role Hong Kong will play in the Greater Bay Area and beyond.”