Cathay Pacific expects to be flying a quarter of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the end of the year.
Carryings in June of 150,077 passengers were more than 95% down on the same month in 2019 before Covid-19 hit.
The load factor increased to 67% and the airline carried on average more than 5,000 passengers a day.
Traffic continued to reflect the positive impact of further adjustments to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.
The airline saw increased demand for flights between the UK and Australia, as well as between the US and the Philippines.
Demand for student travel into Hong Kong was strong and flights from the UK averaged high load factors of 93%.
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Flights to Auckland also resumed last month, which saw good demand not only to and from Hong Kong, but also between New Zealand and the UK as well as India.
But flights to the Chinese mainland remained limited by capacity restrictions relating to anti-pandemic measures there.
Chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam said the carrier was encouraged that the government is considering possible adjustments to the number of days inbound travellers will need to spend in designated quarantine hotels after arriving in Hong Kong.
“We continue to actively add back flight capacity as we work to rebuild our hub and network,” he added.
“On the passenger side, we expect travel sentiment will continue to improve over the coming months. Assuming current travel and operating restrictions as at the time of this report remain unchanged, we anticipate we will be able to operate up to about a quarter of our pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity levels by the end of the year.
“Having said that, the pandemic situation remains highly dynamic and we will need to remain agile with regards to managing our flight capacity.”