The Cathay Group recently marked a new milestone on Thursday, 12th June, as Cathay Pacific and HK Express are well on the way to jointly reach 100 global passenger destinations this month.
The celebration which brought together Cathay Group and relevant government officials was held at Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong.
The event was hosted by Cathay Group chair Patrick Healy and CEO Ronald Lam, with Hong Kong’s secretary for transport and logistics Mable Chan present together with other distinguished guests.
In her remarks to the gathering, Chan said: “Today, we celebrate a very important milestone in Cathay’s long journey over the past years: 100 destinations, 100 routes covering the four corners of the world. This is no small accomplishment, and I would like to thank the collective efforts of the people in the Cathay Group as well as the people of Hong Kong, including in particular many of our colleagues in the Airport Authority Hong Kong and the government departments who have been actively and steadfastly helping and supporting the Cathay Group in growing its global network. I hope that our efforts will continue and we will work in continued partnership.”
Chan added that, as Cathay hits the 100 destinations mark, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and the SAR itself as a global aviation hub continue to soar to greater heights.
She pointed out how the Three-Runway System will give Hong Kong heightened capacity with which to boost itself as a world-class centre for aviation, and has already helped HKIA grow in terms of passenger traffic, flight movement, and cargo volume.
Chan said: “We have three players, three runways, and one Hong Kong. So the paths of Cathay, HKIA, and the Hong Kong SAR are intertwined. I am very confident that we will be scaling new heights for Hong Kong and for the Cathay Group as well.”
An exciting time for a global airline
Meanwhile, Cathay’s Healy said: “I couldn’t be more excited to welcome you all to this celebration of the Cathay Group's 100 passenger destinations across our two airlines, Cathay Pacific and HK Express. For almost 80 years, Cathay has been proudly connecting Hong Kong to the world by continuously expanding our global footprint. In the past two years alone, we have added 30 new passenger destinations, including 18 new destinations this year alone and still counting. That rate of network expansion is at an unprecedented level for Cathay, and that has allowed us to reach this milestone of 100 destinations ahead of schedule.”
Healy added that the Cathay Group’s current investment programme of over HK$100 billion across its entire offering of fleet, cabin products, lounges and digital services is also the most ambitious and largest in the company’s history.
He said: “We have to continue to invest and it’s important that we take full advantage of the amazing new Three-Runway System we now have available to us at Hong Kong International Airport.
These developments further reaffirm the Group’s determination to become one of the world’s greatest service brands whilst demonstrating their wholehearted commitment to the Hong Kong international aviation hub, because that is what enables all of Hong Kong’s Eight Centres to thrive.
Healy concluded with: “None of this would be possible without the outstanding support that we always receive from the Hong Kong SAR Government, and I’d like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the Civil Aviation Department, and the Airport Authority Hong Kong.”
The way forward
For his part, Lam declared that he and his team have been looking forward to this very important milestone.
Lam said: We have been working really hard to rebuild the Cathay Group over the past few years. I still remember our lowest point in our history was one day in March 2022. On that day, as a Group, we carried 58 passengers in total; nowadays, we are carrying consistently more than 100,000 passengers on a daily basis. On that same day, we only served three destinations in the whole world, and today we are standing here celebrating that we will be serving 100 global destinations within this month. What a fantastic achievement by our team, our partners, as well as Hong Kong.”
During the summer peak, Cathay Pacific and HK Express will operate passenger services to a total of 23 destinations in the Chinese Mainland, providing more than 300 return flights per week.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific will operate more than 110 return flights per week to eight destinations in North America and close to 100 return flights per week to 12 European destinations during the peak period this summer.
In addition, with its return to Adelaide in November, Cathay Pacific will be operating close to 90 return flights per week to eight destinations in the Southwest Pacific at the peak of this winter season.
