Cathay Pacific looking to add more Belt and Road destinations, CEO says

Airline Cathay Pacific is looking to add more destinations on China's Belt and Road project, CEO Ronald Lam said on Sunday, after a new route to Riyadh starts up later this year. Lam also said Hong Kong's flagship airline, which made heavy losses and layoffs during the pandemic, is on track to reach 100% of its pre-pandemic passenger flights by the first quarter of 2025, having reached 80% of capacity within the second quarter of this year. Cathay had aimed to reach 100% capacity by the end of 2024, but in March moved the target back three months. The airline reported its first annual profit in four years in March, however executives said they expect yields to normalise this year as the post-pandemic global imbalance between supply of flights and travel demand that drove up ticket prices and airline yields diminishes as airlines add capacity. "Indeed we're seeing that this year ... the yield has been normalizing gradually coming down from last year. In particular, the supply and demand balancing is going quicker on the regional, the short haul routes," Lam told reporters during an airline conference in Dubai. The carrier restored capacity more slowly after the pandemic than its closest rival, Singapore Airlines, because it faced tighter quarantine rules for longer, and needed to hire more staff to bring back services.<br/>