China property tycoon takes on Cathay with new Hong Kong airline

A new airline with ties to Beijing is trying to muscle into Hong Kong, a patch long dominated by stalwart Cathay Pacific Airways. Founded by property magnate Bill Wong, Greater Bay Airlines has ambitions to fly to 104 destinations in mainland China and North, South and Southeast Asia, including Bangkok and Phuket. Scheduled flights haven’t begun yet, with the carrier only receiving its air operator’s certificate at the beginning of the month and an air-transport license still to be procured. Starting an airline at the tail end of a pandemic that’s decimated travel worldwide may sound unwise. But 62-year-old Wong, dubbed the Li Ka-shing of Shenzhen for his expansive business empire across the border, isn’t a total novice. He already owns one carrier, Shenzhen-headquartered Donghai Airlines, which services a raft of Chinese cities as well as a few regional routes. Greater Bay Airlines’ entry into Hong Kong is also coming at a low point for Cathay, the iconic Asian carrier controlled by conglomerate Swire Pacific, whose parent is UK-based private family group John Swire & Sons. Even before Covid, its business had been impacted by its association with the 2019 pro-democracy protests in the former British colony, forcing a change in management at the airline. Now, as Hong Kong hews to a Covid Zero strategy, Cathay can only watch on as carriers in neighboring places such as Singapore and Indonesia prepare to ramp up international routes. With no domestic market and mainland China’s borders still closed even to Hong Kong, Cathay’s passenger traffic languishes at about 5% of pre-pandemic levels.<br/>