Cathay Pacific: Hong Kong flag carrier reports loss of HK$5.5 billion last year amid city’s tough coronavirus travel curbs
- Cargo operations boosted earnings in the second half of 2021
- Carrier’s passenger capacity is just 2 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, as it burns HK$1.5 billion monthly in cash
The figure was significantly lower than the record loss of HK$21.6 billion in 2020.
Cathay Pacific chairman Patrick Healy said the unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic had continued to severely affect business, although the situation had improved as the year progressed.
The airline reported an attributable profit of HK$2 billion in the second half of 2021 and losses in the first half of HK$7.6 billion.
Noting the start of 2022 was tougher than last year, with the tightest quarantine requirements for Hong Kong flight crew, Healy said the airline expected passenger capacity to operate at about 2 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with cargo operations at under a third of that mark, “while current restrictions remain in place”.
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That has led to the beleaguered carrier burning through as much as HK$1.5 billion in cash monthly since February, and it would continue to do so “until conditions improve”, Healy said. But he expressed confidence about the city’s long-term future as an aviation hub.