Cathay Pacific announces $13bn investment to ‘get back to being very best in the world’
Cathay Pacific has announced it will spend $13bn over seven years on new aircraft, airport lounges and cabin revamps as it tries to restore its pandemic-hit reputation and regain its global premium airline crown. Patrick Healy, chair of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, said it was “turning the page” with “bold” plans to invest more than HK$100b (US$12.8b) on its fleet, cabins and airport lounges in Hong Kong, Beijing and New York, as well as other upgrades. Cathay announced on Wednesday it would buy 30 Airbus widebody aircraft and now has more than 100 new aircraft in its delivery pipeline. It expects to launch improvements to first-class seats in 2025 and a fresh flatbed business-class product in 2026. “We want to get back to being the very best in the world,” Healy said. “And this requires investment. We need to invest in the customer products, in the fleet . . . to be able to maintain the premium pricing position that we’ve enjoyed.” He added that the carrier was “confident” continuing results would be “sufficient to fund the investment programme”. Cathay has been ranked by consultancy Skytrax as world’s best airline four times, most recently in 2014. It was ranked as the world’s fifth-best airline this year. The carrier reported a first-half profit of HK$3.6b (US$460m) on Wednesday, down from HK$4.3b a year earlier. It attributed the drop principally to lower ticket prices despite “robust” demand for travel. Cathay, which declared an interim dividend of 20 HK cents per ordinary share, said it was on track to a full post-pandemic recovery in passenger capacity by Q1 next year. <br/>
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Cathay Pacific announces $13bn investment to ‘get back to being very best in the world’
Cathay Pacific has announced it will spend $13bn over seven years on new aircraft, airport lounges and cabin revamps as it tries to restore its pandemic-hit reputation and regain its global premium airline crown. Patrick Healy, chair of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, said it was “turning the page” with “bold” plans to invest more than HK$100b (US$12.8b) on its fleet, cabins and airport lounges in Hong Kong, Beijing and New York, as well as other upgrades. Cathay announced on Wednesday it would buy 30 Airbus widebody aircraft and now has more than 100 new aircraft in its delivery pipeline. It expects to launch improvements to first-class seats in 2025 and a fresh flatbed business-class product in 2026. “We want to get back to being the very best in the world,” Healy said. “And this requires investment. We need to invest in the customer products, in the fleet . . . to be able to maintain the premium pricing position that we’ve enjoyed.” He added that the carrier was “confident” continuing results would be “sufficient to fund the investment programme”. Cathay has been ranked by consultancy Skytrax as world’s best airline four times, most recently in 2014. It was ranked as the world’s fifth-best airline this year. The carrier reported a first-half profit of HK$3.6b (US$460m) on Wednesday, down from HK$4.3b a year earlier. It attributed the drop principally to lower ticket prices despite “robust” demand for travel. Cathay, which declared an interim dividend of 20 HK cents per ordinary share, said it was on track to a full post-pandemic recovery in passenger capacity by Q1 next year. <br/>
