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Cathay Pacific seeks to hire 400 cadet pilots by end of 2023 as it signs 3-year training deal with university in Hong Kong

  • Airline to hire 700 pilots in total by end of next year as part of effort to bring on 4,000 new employees
  • Cathay and Polytechnic University agree to operate pilot training programme for three years after it was suspended for two due to Covid-19

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Cathay’s new course with PolyU adds to the airline’s existing training programme in Adelaide, Australia. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Laura Westbrook
Cathay Pacific Airways is aiming to hire 400 cadet pilots by the end of next year as part of plans to boost manpower ahead of Hong Kong’s expected economic recovery and an increasing demand for flights in the region.

The flagship carrier signed a three-year deal with Polytechnic University (PolyU) on Monday to collaborate on a new course for the airlines’s cadet pilot training programme, which resumed in March after it was suspended for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cathay CEO Augustus Tang Kin-wing said 400 cadet pilots would join the airline as second officers when they graduated by the end of next year, making up the bulk of 700 pilot recruits the airline intended to hire. Overall, Cathay is seeking 4,000 new employees to “meet the rising global demand for travel”, he said.

(Front row from left) Cathay Pacific general manager for flying Tim Burns and faculty of engineering Professor Man Hau-chung sign the deal for training pilots. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
(Front row from left) Cathay Pacific general manager for flying Tim Burns and faculty of engineering Professor Man Hau-chung sign the deal for training pilots. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Cathay hoped to train more than 1,000 cadet pilots by 2025 as the airline looked to invest in local talent, Tang said.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung, who attended the ceremony marking the deal signing at Cathay Pacific headquarters at Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island, said the government wanted to build Hong Kong into a pilot training hub.

“The cadet pilot training programme will not only groom more pilots for Hong Kong, but it also marks the first time that aviation theory courses will be taught by a local institution,” Lam said.

The course resumed in March, with the first intake of 24 cadets set to commence flight training in October.

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