Cathay Pacific narrows loss to $5b in H1

Progressive adjustments to COVID restrictions in Hong Kong aided the airlines.

The Cathay Pacific Group said it was able to narrow down its losses to $5b in H122 from $7.6b in H121, despite an “extremely difficult start to 2022."

The airline’s loss after tax, the share of losses from subsidiaries, and the share of losses from associates also narrowed in H122 to $1.5b, $1.0b, and $2.5b, respectively.

Chairman Patrick Healy said the progressive adjustments to Hong Kong’s COVID restrictions were positive developments for the airline.

"Adjustments to the testing and quarantine requirements for Hong Kong-based aircrew enabled us to progressively resume flights to more destinations in May and June. This included the resumption of daily London passenger flights and a full freighter schedule,” Healy said.

In H122, the airlines’ passenger revenue and revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) increased by 177.6% to $2.1b, and 129.7%, respectively.

The airline's average passengers per day also rose 113.4% YoY to 1,853.

Looking ahead, the airline said it will progressively increase its passenger flight capacity up to a quarter and cargo flight capacity to 65% of the pre-pandemic level by the end of 2022.

With the recent adjustment to quarantine arrangements for airline passengers, Cathay Group said it is confident that its airlines and subsidiaries will likely see a “stronger second-half than first-half performance.”