Cathay at full blast by the end of 2024

Cathay Pacific says it aims to return to pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2024.

About 3,000 flights are being added between last month to the end of December - on track for its flight capacity to reach one third of its pre-Covid level.

"This represents a doubling of the capacity that we offered in August and is approximately eight times that of the first half of 2022," said outgoing chief executive Augustus Tang Kin-wing, who will retire on December 31.

The airline also anticipated that its passenger flight capacity could be at around 70 percent of its prepandemic level by the end of next year.

It is looking forward to seeing the government cancel all restrictions to facilitate the full resumption of travel activities as well as enhancing the city's connectivity with other countries.

"We are taking a measured and responsible approach to our road to recovery while addressing challenges unique to Hong Kong. The city's borders were closed for much longer than in other markets. And aircrew in Hong Kong were under quarantine constraints that weren't lifted until September," Tang said.

"Despite all this, our recovery trajectory is in line with other carriers that don't benefit from a domestic market in terms of the time taken since borders began to open."

Tang said the airline has sufficient staff to operate its current flights and the ongoing recruitment will support its operations throughout the recovery.

"The short-term bottlenecks lie in the recertification of pilots who have not been flying regularly for a long period of time and the reactivation of aircraft. We have been bolstering our capabilities to expedite this process," he added.

However, the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association said the ambitious expectations means that the airline "fails to acknowledge the challenges it actually faces."

It said the airline's recovery has been significantly obstructed by the loss of experienced pilots. The group said the airline currently has 2,400 pilots - compared to 3,800 before the pandemic - but around 30 to 50 experienced pilots leave every month.

It said that over half of Cathay captains have left, including many training captains.

"It will take time to rebuild the training department before the airline can effectively restore its flight capacity," the association said.

Meanwhile, low-cost carrier AirAsia said it will add more flights to and from Hong Kong starting next month.

From December 15, flights to Bangkok will be increased to four times weekly, while the chance to fly to Kuala Lumpur or Manila will be three times weekly.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com