Cathay Pacific to boost passenger, cargo capacity in India with bigger planes

Cathay Pacific, under pressure from mainland Chinese carriers, plans to increase its passenger and cargo business in India where yields are holding up better than at home, a senior company executive said. Cathay, which can only operate a limited number of flights to India due to bilateral constraints, plans to fly bigger planes between Mumbai and Hong Kong to boost its passenger and cargo capacity, Mark Sutch, regional general manager for South Asia, Middle East and Africa, said in an interview on Thursday. “The Indian economy is pretty vibrant and the growth here is significantly higher than many countries,” said Sutch, adding India and China were two markets where Cathay saw a big future. In recent years, Cathay has seen its market share on international routes eroded by rapidly expanding mainland Chinese and Gulf airlines. This, with poor fuel hedges and lack of a budget arm, have hurt its competitiveness. India is among the top 10 markets for Cathay in terms of revenues. Its Indian revenues grew 5 percent in 2016 to 12.58b rupees ($197m), when overall the airline reported its first full-year loss since 2008. But competition in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets with domestic passenger traffic rising at more than 20%, is on the increase and yields are under pressure. “Our yield year-on-year is certainly not strengthening in India. It is very much under pressure but not as much under pressure as some of our other key home markets,” Sutch said.<br/>