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Cathay Pacific set to boost flights to Bangkok, holiday destinations in Thailand as airline looks to connect ‘Hong Kong to world’

  • Hong Kong’s flagship airline will double the number of flights to Bangkok to four a day in December, from the current two, Cathay chairman Patrick Healy says
  • Average basic salary of Hong Kong-based staff set to rise by 3.3 per cent, internal memo from CEO says

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Cathay Pacific aims to get capacity back to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels next year. Photo: Yik Yeung -man
Chris LauandLaura Westbrook
Cathay Pacific Airways will boost the number of flights to Thailand’s capital and the country’s holiday destinations, as the carrier aims to play a bigger role in Hong Kong’s bid to seek closer ties with other countries in the region, group chairman Patrick Healy has said.

His comments on Monday came as Cathay CEO Augustus Tang Kin-wing told employees in an internal memo that the airline was moving from “survival to recovery”, and that eligible Hong Kong-based staff would see their average basic salary increased by 3.3 per cent as well as receiving the equivalent of one month’s salary as an ex gratia payment.

Healy said Hong Kong’s flagship airline would double the number of flights to Bangkok to four a day in December, from the current two, while resuming its service to Phuket in January.

“It’s our job to connect Hong Kong to the world and to connect the world to Hong Kong. And that’s why we’re busy ramping up capacity just as fast as we can,” Healy said in the Thai capital.

“Hong Kong is coming back. And Cathay Pacific is coming back.”

Cathay chairman Patrick Healy. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Cathay chairman Patrick Healy. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

He added that Hong Kong Express, its budget subsidiary, would operate 22 flights a week to Thailand, including 11 to Bangkok and seven to Phuket, while restarting its Chiang Mai route in December.

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