Cathay delays pre-pandemic capacity target to 2025
Hong Kong's flag carrier on Wednesday announced that its goal of reaching 100 percent capacity had been moved back, despite posting its first profit since 2019. Speaking at a press briefing, Cathay Pacific CEO, Ronald Lam, said the airline aims to reach 100 percent of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the first quarter of 2025 - three months later than the previously announced target period.  "Our projection is that within [the second quarter of] 2024, we'll build back 80 percent of our passenger flights. And now, we are working towards building back 100 percent of our passenger flights within the first quarter of 2025. So as we add more flights, and so do other airlines in the world, we believe the supply and demand will rebalance itself," he added.  Lam also said Cathay aims to hire 20 percent more staff, or 5,000 people, this year to cope with demand. He reassured passengers that Cathay will not cancel any more flights owing to "pilot issues" after the carrier cut dozens of flights towards the end of last year.  "Throughout the rest of January, and then throughout February, and indeed throughout March, we have had no more flight cancellations due to pilot issues. I believe that it will be the same trend moving forward and our customers can count on us to make sure that we have reliable schedules moving forward," he said.  Cathay's chair Patrick Healy, meanwhile, said a jump in demand after the end of the Covid-related travel restrictions contributed to the strong financial performance.  Healy noted that Cathay was bailed out by the Hong Kong taxpayer at the height of the pandemic, with a HK$19.5 billion injection in the form of preference shares and warrants.  Healy said the airline will buy back all the outstanding preference shares from the government this year. "We bought back 50 percent, or HK$9.75 billion, of the preference shares held by the government in December last year. We plan to buy back the remaining 50 percent by the end of July 2024, subject to market conditions and our business operations at that time," he added. Cathay's shares ended up 5.8 percent, its highest close in more than four years, outpacing a flat broader market.  Shares in Cathay's largest shareholder, Swire Pacific, closed up more than 3 percent on Wednesday afternoon. (Additional reporting from Reuters)