Hong Kong airfares likely to remain high until second half of 2024, senior Qatar Airways executive predicts
- Demand is likely to continue to exceed supply until second half of next year, Qatar Airways’ North Asia manager Chan Cheong-eu says
- Operating costs for carriers have increased as airports are charging more, he says
Hong Kong airfares will continue to remain high until at least the second half of next year, a Qatar Airways senior executive has predicted, saying he also expects the company’s revenue from its services in the city to increase by up to 20 per cent this year over 2022 levels.
Qatar Airways’ North Asia manager Chan Cheong-eu told the Post on Tuesday that demand for flights in and out of the city was likely to continue to exceed supply until the second half of next year.
“Supply and demand is still a real issue,” said Chan, who is based in Beijing. “Cathay Pacific Airways is still operating at 50 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity. Many airlines have still not returned to Hong Kong or may not come back to the city, but demand has gone up to 70 to 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.”
Chan said operating costs for carriers had increased as airports, including Hong Kong’s, were charging more. Fuel costs and supply chain issues were also having an impact, he added.
Doha-based Qatar Airways became one of the first airlines to restore its service to Hong Kong to pre-pandemic levels after it resumed twice daily flights to the city in April.
Chan said demand for the route was strong. The load factor – a measure of how well an airline was filling available seats – was higher than 80 per cent this year, with the carrier also benefiting from others not operating at full capacity, the senior executive added.
Chan said he expected revenue from its Hong Kong service to increase by up to 20 per cent in the current financial year compared with the previous one, as the two Boeing 777-300s being flown on the route offered more business-class seats and a higher capacity.
The airline was offering 22 per cent more seats in June this year compared with the same month in 2019, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The government on Tuesday said it was planning to import more than 20,000 workers to the city, including 6,300 for the airport, to ease a labour crunch.
Chan said the carrier had earlier delayed increasing flights to Hong Kong due to labour shortages at ground handling companies at the airport.
The airline had increased daily flights to the city from seven to 11 per week in January, to twice daily in April.
“If we had a choice, we would have done it much faster,” he said.
Chan added that having a partnership with Cathay, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, meant the airline was able to get the resources it needed. “We are one of the fortunate ones,” he said.
Qatar Airways is Cathay’s third-largest shareholder. Hong Kong Airport Services is a subsidiary of Cathay, and one of three major ground handling companies operating in the city.
The carrier has also resumed flights to four cities in mainland China – Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai – at about 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
The airline was hoping to add Chengdu and Chongqing to its destinations by the end of the year, Chan said.
