Cathay Pacific announced on Wednesday its return to a solid profitability in the first half of 2023 thanks to the resumption of air traffic in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
The Hong Kong-based airline carried out a net profit of $546 million from January to June, compared to a loss of $640 million over the equivalent period of 2022. It had suffered heavy losses in the first half of 2020 and 2021, as Hong Kong was completely isolated from the rest of the world for two and a half years in policy reason”zero-Covid” set up by the local authorities (and imposed by the central power of Beijing).
In the first half, Cathay Pacific transported 7.8 million passengers for a revenue of 3.2 billion dollars. Total revenue, including freight and other services, more than doubled to $5.6 billion, but freight revenue fell 11.6% to $1.4 billion as international demand fell.
During the first half of the year, the Hong Kong company experienced a “positive period” thanks to “good progress” in adding flights and destinations but said to be only halfway through its full recovery process. After working atrebuild connectivity to Hong Kong international air hub after borders fully reopen“, she plans to achieve her goal of “70% pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity… by the end of 2023” and said to herself “confident of reaching 100% by the end of 2024“, according to its CEO Patrick Healey.
