Planemakers Airbus and Boeing need to put more pressure on their suppliers to reduce the delivery delays of new aircraft that are hindering airlines' ability to meet travel demand, Qatar Airways CEO said on Wednesday.<br/>"We are ... really trying our best to assist both Boeing and Airbus and try to find solutions for them to make sure they deliver," Badr Mohammed Al Meer said on a panel at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. "I know they're under so much pressure when it comes to the supply chain market .. But they need to put more pressure on those suppliers to make sure that airlines stop the bleeding," he said. Demand for air travel has rebounded since the pandemic, but planemakers are struggling to get back to previous production levels due to disrupted supply chains and a safety crisis at Boeing. Qatar Airways is unable to meet high post-COVID demand for travel because of the shortage of new aircraft, Meer said.<br/>
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Qatar Airways is set to invest in an unidentified airline based in southern Africa in the coming weeks as it looks to expand its footprint in the continent. “We are in the final stage of an equity investment in an airline in the southern part of Africa,” Chief Executive Officer Badr Al-Meer said at the Qatar Economic Forum on Wednesday. While he didn’t identify the carrier in question, Al-Meer said there are only two or three airlines that would be in consideration and that an announcement may come in the next two to three weeks. Southern Africa is the “last piece of the equation” to gain greater scale on the continent that’s seen rising travel demand in recent years, Al-Meer said. State-owned Qatar Airways already flies to 31 destinations across Africa, and is looking to expand its network through a series of partnerships and investments. The Doha-based carrier is also working on finalizing the acquisition of a 49% stake in RwandAir, and will have a 60% stake in a new airport that’s being built near Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. The new hub, expected to be completed in 2027, will attempt to take on continental giant Ethiopian Airlines Group. The government of the State of Qatar is the underwriter of the Qatar Economic Forum, powered by Bloomberg.<br/>
Top bosses at Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways were paid about 20% more last year than they received in 2019 before the pandemic, with some enjoying substantial salary rises despite the flag carrier’s ongoing struggle to return to full capacity. According to its latest annual report, the company paid about HK$60.62m (US$7.8m) to its 20 executive directors last year, up 21.6% compared with HK$49.84m in 2022 when Hong Kong was still gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic. Their pay last year was almost 20% higher than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which stood at HK$50.8m. That year, Cathay’s annual profits dropped by 28% to HK$1.7b amid months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong and the axing of its then CEO Rupert Hogg. Current Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por was the highest paid, with a package worth HK$10.45m, including a bonus for the preceding year. His pay soared by 32% from HK$7.91m in 2022. Rebecca Sharpe, the company’s CFO, became the second-highest paid director and pocketed 35.8% more at HK$9.71m last year from HK$7.15m in 2022. Cathay chairman Patrick Healy also received HK$8.66m last year, a pay rise of 38.56% compared with HK$6.25m in 2022. Alex McGowan, who was appointed executive director in April 2023, took home HK$4.63m last year. McGowan, the company’s chief operations and service delivery officer, apologised for a flight cancellation blunder at the beginning of this year.<br/>