Cathay Pacific Airways Names Ronald Lam New CEO

Cathay Pacific Airways, one of the premier international carriers to the most lucrative Asian markets, has announced that it has has named a new chief executive officer.

Ronald Lam, a longtime executive already with the airline, will assume his new responsibilities on January 1, 2023. He will replace Augustus Tan, who had previously announced his retirement. Lam, 50, has been with Cathay Pacific for the past quarter-century.

Like all airlines, Cathay Pacific had its difficulties navigating the pandemic from a financial standpoint. The airline not only went through a restructuring in 2020 just as the COVID-19 virus hit hard, but Cathay Pacific, which is based in Hong Kong and is the second largest airline at Hong Kong International Airport, was further hampered by the territory’s ultra-restrictive policies regarding travel that were barely a month ago.

According to CNBC, Cathay Pacific will still only a reach just a third of its pre-pandemic capacity by the end of the year, which is far less than what other international airlines have been able to recoup and still below the 81 percent achieved by its main rival, Singapore Airlines.