Hong Kongers can expect lower airfares this year

Hong Kongers can expect lower airfares this year, with the city's flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways predicting prices will return to normal as supply of flights increase. The airline made the upbeat forecast about cheaper airfares amid rising calls from lawmakers for the company to reduce ticket prices, after it had posted HK$9.78b net profit last year. Appearing before the Legislative Council's economic development panel on Friday, Cathay's general manager for planning Erica Peng acknowledged the city's airfares had been elevated due to the unbalanced supply of flights after international travel resumed last year. Peng added that airfares were likely to "normalise" in the coming year as an increase in the supply of flights would reduce the shortfall, although she did not confirm if the carrier would cut prices. "Along with the improvement in supply of capacity, Hong Kong's airfares have started to normalise," she said. "We'll work hard to increase capacity and we expect our ticket prices will be back to normal in the coming year." Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said the carrier would return to 80% of pre-Covid capacity by the end of Q2 this year and 100% in Q1 of 2025, despite a three-month delay to the latter target. <br/>