Cathay Pacific plans to expand fleet and hire staff
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Civil Aviation Resource Network October 7, 2022 News: With the opening of the third runway at Hong Kong Airport and the airport's huge increase in throughput, Cathay Pacific is negotiating with Boeing and Airbus to expand the size of the fleet, with a view to regrouping after the epidemic.
According to Bloomberg, Cathay Pacific's customer and commercial chief executive Lim Shaobo said in an interview in London on Thursday (October 6) that the airline was looking into the possibility of adding passenger and freighter aircraft. Cathay Pacific will seek to take delivery of the new aircraft from 2025, when the new runway will be fully operational.
Lin Shaobo said that although the company retains various options, it hopes to maintain consistency and synergy with the existing fleet. Currently, the company's short-haul routes use the Airbus A321neo family, and long-haul and some regional routes use the A330, A350 and Boeing 777 families. The low-cost airline subsidiary Hong Kong Express Airways operates exclusively on the A320 family.
Bloomberg reports that Cathay Pacific now has reason for optimism as Hong Kong lifts its mandatory quarantine rules after two and a half years of the outbreak. While some pandemic restrictions remain in place, companies are gearing up for a travel recovery.
"We encountered some short-term setbacks due to the epidemic, but I think we will get back on our feet," Lin Shaobo said. "In particular, we play a very critical role in connecting Hong Kong and Europe, and this role will not change, it will only become stronger."
Lin Shaobo said that the current passenger flight capacity of Cathay Pacific is only about 16% of what it was before the epidemic, and it will increase to about one-third by the end of this year. The company plans to return to normal levels in late 2024 or early 2025, with HK Express recovering faster. Freight capacity should reach two-thirds of 2019's level this year.
He said that Cathay Pacific is actively negotiating to renew the lease of the freighter and is also considering Boeing 777-8F and Airbus A350 freighters. The company currently operates 20 Boeing 747 freighters, most of which are the last generation of the aircraft.
As for the 777X aircraft ordered by Cathay Pacific in 2013, but the delivery has been delayed for a long time, Lin Shaobo said that the company has reached a delivery plan with Boeing starting from 2025, and there is no plan to cut orders at present.
Lin Shaobo said that the group plans to recruit 8,000 employees by the end of next year, including pilots, crew, check-in and ground staff. Among them, Cathay Pacific will recruit 4,000 people, but even that will only be enough to restore the number of employees to 2009 levels. Cathay Pacific currently has about 40% fewer employees than it was at the end of 2019.