“To the affected customers, we want to represent Cathay Pacific in expressing our deepest apologies once again,” Lam said.

“This incident affected the travel arrangements of many travellers and caused a lot of inconvenience. Our entire team, including myself, feels very sorry. We will learn from this incident and make improvements.”

The airline CEO said there would be no new cancellations besides those already announced.

On Sunday, Cathay announced it would cut a dozen flights a day on average until the end of February to avoid disruptions during the busy Lunar New Year period.

A check by the Post found that Cathay cancelled 21 flights on Monday, the same number on Tuesday, 12 on Wednesday and 20 on Thursday.

The airline earlier called off 70 flights during the Christmas and New Year holidays, at the time attributing the situation to “higher-than-expected pilot absences caused by seasonal illness”.

In a Cathay staff memo dated December 30 and seen by the Post, the company said many pilots had reached or were about to hit their 900-hour flying limit for the rolling 12-month period.

Alex McGowan, the airline’s chief operations and service delivery officer, on Wednesday issued an apology, admitting the company had “underestimated” the number of reserve pilots needed over the year-end period, which led to several flights being axed.

Lam a day later said Cathay only realised during the Christmas break that the number of reserve pilots was not enough to offset those falling ill from seasonal influenza.

The issue had persisted into January as pilot rosters were sent out in mid-December, he added.

The Cathay CEO said the airline had learned its lesson and adjusted rosters for February, adding that the carrier would increase the number of reserve pilots for the Lunar New peak travel season between February 7 and 18.

Lam said the airline had faced challenges as it recovered after the Covid-19 pandemic and had “done a great job” rebuilding the number of passenger flights from less than 10 per cent to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

The company was now working towards a full recovery of all flights and routes, he said.

But Lam stopped short of answering repeat questions from the media about whether he or his team would resign due to the wave of flight cancellations.

Cathay was keeping regulators and the government informed of the situation, while also cooperating with officials to determine the root cause and prevent any repeat incidents, he said.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said Cathay’s arrangements for cancelling flights were not satisfactory.

“The communication and follow-up measures have been poorly executed, with some passengers receiving notifications very late,” he told a radio programme.

The Airport Authority, which runs the city’s airport, has requested a report from Cathay, including data on its future manpower arrangement and plans to increase its pool of reserve pilots to reduce the risk of future cancellations.

According to the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, Cathay has 2,532 pilots, about 35 per cent fewer compared with before the pandemic.

The organisation, which represents Cathay pilots, has attributed the carrier’s crew shortage to its 2020 decision to fire cockpit crew and flight attendants, cut the wages of frontline staff and close down its regional carrier Cathay Dragon to stay afloat during the pandemic.

The association on Tuesday called for a change in Cathay’s leadership, “particularly among those responsible for overseeing flight operations”.

Additional reporting by Jack Deng