Beijing ‘pressing Cathay Pacific to expand flights to Middle East, Asia to boost Hong Kong economy but airline lacking pilots’
Beijing has put pressure on Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways to expand its routes and direct flights to the Middle East and Asia to boost the city’s flagging economy and tourism, but the company is struggling to meet expectations due to a shortfall of pilots, the Post has learned.
Analysts also warned that Hong Kong and the airline, the only local carrier able to provide long-haul flights, were lagging counterparts across the border, as Cathay Pacific could only launch a long-awaited direct service to Riyadh in October after a signing ceremony on June 6.
In comparison, Guangzhou already has direct flight services to Kuwait and Riyadh while China Southern Airlines will fly directly from Shenzhen to the Saudi capital starting on June 3.
A source close to the situation said Beijing had “demanded” Cathay run more routes and direct services to various destinations in the Middle East and Asia, in particular to locations in the Belt and Road Initiative.
The initiative is the nation’s trade strategy to connect more than 70 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa via a “New Silk Road” of railways, highways and ports.
“The authorities have pressed Cathay to open more routes with direct flights to the Middle East and Asia or else they may ask other mainland cities to offer the service,” the insider said.
“But the airline privately admitted that it doesn’t have enough pilots for the service expansion. It all depends on whether the company has tried its best to recruit from overseas to address the shortage.”
Cathay earlier announced it would relaunch passenger flights between Hong Kong and Riyadh in the fourth quarter of the year as the government pursued stronger trade and investment links with Saudi Arabia. The Saudi route was axed in March 2017.
A government delegation led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu had to take indirect flights to Riyadh last year, which was not conducive to business, another insider revealed.
Lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, also a member of the government’s key decision-making Executive Council, noted there had been a lack of direct flights to many destinations in the Middle East and Asia, such as Bahrain, Kuwait and the central Asian country of Kazakhstan.
“Hong Kong will lose its aviation competitiveness if it is still taking such a slow pace to resume routes or open new ones. Many mainland cities such as Shenzhen are catching up at a rapid rate,” he said.
Lam added that authorities in Malaysia and Thailand also hoped the city’s carriers could provide direct flight services to destinations in their countries, such as Ipoh and Hua Hin respectively.
“Opening new routes to the Middle East and Asean countries is important to the city’s commercial and tourism development, with Hong Kong also serving as a stopover for travellers to visit the Greater Bay Area,” Lam said.
“We can’t afford to be slow and lagging behind. As the government hopes to develop greater economic ties with these countries, Cathay can definitely provide more offerings,” he added, pointing to the authorities’ HK$39 billion (US$5 billion) bailout of the company during the pandemic.
When contacted by the Post, Cathay said it had not faced any pressure from the mainland Chinese government over its expansion plans or the markets it operated in, adding the Civil Aviation Administration of China had been supportive of its recovery efforts.
“The Cathay Group will continue to contribute to the ongoing development of the Hong Kong international aviation hub and China’s aviation industry.”
Meanwhile, the Transport and Logistics Bureau said any local airline designated under relevant air services agreements could submit applications to the government requesting unallocated and available traffic rights.
“The Airport Authority Hong Kong has also been discussing with non-local airlines to launch and increase flights to and from Hong Kong,” the bureau added.
Tommy Tam Kwong-shun, chairman of the Society of IATA Passenger Agents, said Cathay’s relaunch of the Riyadh route was “definitely slower” than the efforts of rivals across the border, such as in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
“If there are more choices of flights to Riyadh in the two mainland cities, Hong Kong travellers can conveniently cross the border and go for their services,” he said.
To make the Riyadh route financially sustainable for Cathay, the city’s authorities and tourism industry had to drum up their promotion of Hong Kong as both a business and holiday destination, Tam added.
Cathay earlier said that, having learned from recent flight cancellations, it was pushing back its target of restoring pre-pandemic capacity to early 2025. The company cancelled 786 flights between last December and February – more than 4 per cent of the total.
The airline needs another 500 pilots this year to meet its target of reaching pre-pandemic capacity in the first quarter of 2025. The new hires will increase the number of pilots to 3,400, still 400 fewer than in early 2020.
The recovery of Hong Kong’s tourism sector was slower than the expected in 2023, with flight capacity limitations a factor.
Paul Weatherilt, chairman of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, said he believed Cathay’s core problem remained the lack of pilots stemming from a restructuring plan in October 2020, when the airline shut down its subsidiary Cathay Dragon.
“It does not have the capacity for new routes, and is unlikely to give up proven routes for new destinations to assist with Hong Kong’s tourism development,” he said.
Weatherilt said one way to address the shortfall was to rehire former pilots as they could return to flying within weeks, as opposed to months for new hires.
“However, Cathay would have to offer a much more attractive package to entice them back,” he added.
If Cathay was unable to secure more pilots, Weatherilt said the Hong Kong government could consider granting fifth freedom air traffic rights, which would allow non-local airlines to operate out of the city to other destinations.
