The Cathay Group has completed a two-year rebuilding effort following the pandemic with a “firm focus” now on on adding more flights and destinations to reinforce Hong Kong’s international aviation hub status
The group achieved new post-pandemic highs for total passengers carried last year with Cathay Pacific and HK Express flying combined total of more than 28 million passengers, up 30.7% year-on-year.
Cathay Pacific carried more than 2.2 million passengers in December, an increase of 26.4% compared with the same month in 2023.
Chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “December is the traditional peak season for our travel business as customers visit friends and relatives, and travel for leisure over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“In 2024, we achieved a significant milestone during the year-end travel peak with Cathay Pacific and HK Express together carrying more than 100,000 passengers in a single day — the most since the start of our rebuild — on a total of eight days.
“In addition, our premium cabins experienced high demand leading up to the holiday season, reflecting a surge in business-related travel before the end of the year. December also saw the resumption of our seasonal service to Cairns, which operates three flights per week and has been well received by customers.
“Overall in 2024, we continued to leverage our global network and the strategic advantages of the Hong Kong hub to attract more transit passengers, in particular those travelling between the Chinese mainland and cities around the world.”
She added: “As a group, we made incredible progress in 2024, having successfully completed our two-year rebuild journey and reaching 100% of our pre-pandemic flights from January 2025.
“Looking ahead, we remain firmly focused on further strengthening Hong Kong’s status as a leading international aviation hub, adding more flights and destinations for both passengers and cargo customers.
“Just recently, Cathay Pacific announced the launch of direct flights between Hong Kong and Rome starting June this year. As a group, we have already announced six new destinations so far for 2025 as we strive towards reaching 100 destinations worldwide this year.
“With the Lunar New Year approaching, we are seeing bookings accelerate as customers plan their holiday travel after the Christmas season. After the Lunar New Year peak, we expect leisure travel demand from Hong Kong to be quieter, with our flights carrying more transit passengers leveraging our strong global network.”