‘Covid is behind us’: Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways soars to HK$9.78 billion net profit after 3 years of losses

Group chairman Patrick Healy on Wednesday said the company was expecting a return to 80 per cent of its pre-pandemic flight capacity in the second quarter of this year after reaching 70 per cent at the end of last year, which connected the city to 80 destinations.

“In 2023, we finally left the Covid-19 pandemic behind us,” he said.

But CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said the group’s earlier target to return to its full pre-Covid capacity by the end of this year had been delayed by three months to the first quarter of 2025.

The group revealed a turnaround in the performance of Cathay Pacific’s premium services and its budget airline HK Express, on the back of what it called a “notable surge in travel demand”.

The recovery restored the company’s dividend payout for the first time since 2019, with its directors recommending an interim dividend of 43 HK cents.

Healy said the group’s priority this year was to ensure sustainable growth and prepare for the full operation of the third runway at the Hong Kong International Airport by the end of this year.

Last year’s results included a one-off gain of HK$1.9 billion as a result of the dilution of its stake in Air China from 18.13 per cent to 16.26 per cent.

Cathay group’s revenue jumped 85.1 per cent year on year to HK$94.48 billion in 2023, fuelled by its cargo services.

“The imbalance between supply and demand resulted in high yields and contributed to a strong financial performance in both halves of the year,” Healy said, adding that the discrepancy would diminish this year as capacity was restored.

It delivered 19.6 per cent more cargo at 1.38 million tonnes in 2023 compared with the previous year.

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific hires 40 cadet pilots from mainland China

The group’s airlines carried 17.98 million passengers in 2023, 541.4 per cent higher than the 2.8 million recorded in 2022.

Earnings per share were 253.2 per cent higher at HK$1.40, compared with a loss per share of HK$1.11 a year ago.

The group’s shares jumped 1.61 per cent to HK$8.82 at the end of the morning trading session on Wednesday following the announcement of the results.

Cathay was embroiled in controversy in December and February as it resorted to cutting hundreds of flights to ensure smooth operations during the Lunar New Year peak season, after many pilots fell sick and had reached their maximum flying hours.