Cathay Pacific Airways reports half-year revenue up 17% year-on-year

Airbus A350 of Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific Airways said the group’s half-year revenue rose 17% year-on-year to HKD 18,551 million this year. Still, available seat kilometers (ASK) declined 26.6% in January-June this year compared with the same period last year.

The carrier’s revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) for the first half of 2022 increased nearly 130%. Passenger load factor was 59.2% during the reporting period, up by more than 40 percentage points from last year.

Chairman Patrick Healy said the group had “an extremely difficult start” this year. Ongoing COVID-19-related travel restrictions and quarantine requirements severely constrained the company’s passenger operations. Hong Kong’s recent adjustments to quarantine arrangements for arriving passengers are expected to improve travel sentiment, according to Healy.

The airline is targeting to progressively increase passenger flight capacity up to a quarter and cargo flight capacity to 65% of the pre-pandemic level by the end of 2022, boosting confidence that the group’s airlines and subsidiaries will see a stronger second-half than first-half performance.

Cathay aims at hiring more than 4,000 front-line employees to meet the airline’s operational needs over the next 18-24 months.