Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific ticket prices won’t drop until ‘end of next year’ amid manpower crunch, CEO says while carrier plans cadet pilots at service lines

Ronald Lam tells shareholders ‘aggressive’ target of 70 per cent pre-pandemic passenger capacity by year-end unlikely to increase

Air fares have soared between 15 and 40 per cent compared with before the pandemic, according to travel agents

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Hong Kong’s Cathay has been badly hit by three years of pandemic shutdowns. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:53pm, 10 May 2023Updated: 9:22pm, 10 May 2023

Cathay Pacific Airways is battling a manpower crunch and air fares are not expected to come down until the end of next year, the boss of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier has said, while an analyst has warned the city’s aviation hub status could suffer as a result of industry-wide staff shortages.

Cathay Pacific CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por revealed the staffing problems at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. The carrier is looking to deploy cadet pilots to work with customers at Hong Kong airport under a new training initiative next month.

“We can see that supply is lower than demand and ticket rates in the market are still higher than pre-pandemic levels. We hope that as we continue to increase capacity … by the end of next year ticket prices can go back to normal,” Lam told shareholders.

Patrick Healy (left), chairman of Cathay Pacific Airways, and CEO Ronald Lam. Photo: Jelly Tse

The airline has set a target of 70 per cent of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of the year and 100 per cent at the end of 2024.

Lam called that an “aggressive” goal that would not be increased further as the airline was facing manpower constraints, including for flight crew and ground staff at the airport and elsewhere.

“I don’t think we can raise our target for the end of this year,” Lam warned.

Airfares have soared by between 15 and 40 per cent compared with pre-pandemic prices, according to travel agents.

Laura Westbrook

Laura Westbrook is a correspondent covering Hong Kong. Prior to joining the Post, Laura was a reporter, presenter and senior producer at BBC World News in London. She has also worked as a news reporter in Hong Kong and New Zealand.

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Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific ticket prices won’t drop until ‘end of next year’ amid manpower crunch, CEO says while carrier plans cadet pilots at service lines

Ronald Lam tells shareholders ‘aggressive’ target of 70 per cent pre-pandemic passenger capacity by year-end unlikely to increase

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Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific ticket prices won’t drop until ‘end of next year’ amid manpower crunch, CEO says while carrier plans cadet pilots at service lines

Ronald Lam tells shareholders ‘aggressive’ target of 70 per cent pre-pandemic passenger capacity by year-end unlikely to increase Air fares have soared between 15 and 40 per cent compared with before the pandemic, according to travel agents

Cathay crew member mistakenly gives boy, 3, wine on Hong Kong-London flight

No need for Hong Kong to reject Boeing aircraft deliveries, experts say

Passenger traffic for Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific grows by 19.8% in March

Ronald Lam tells shareholders ‘aggressive’ target of 70 per cent pre-pandemic passenger capacity by year-end unlikely to increase

Air fares have soared between 15 and 40 per cent compared with before the pandemic, according to travel agents