Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will step up diversification efforts to mitigate growing geopolitical risks that have “affected our business a lot”, its CEO has said, as the airline expands the group’s network to 103 destinations by the end of this year.
During a visit to a pilot training centre in Adelaide, Australia, Cathay Group CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said the group also took a flexible approach to accommodating customers’ requests, such as ticket cancellations, in response to an escalating dispute between Beijing and Tokyo and unstable China-US relations.
“Geopolitical risks affected our business a lot because we are an international airline that flies to more than 100 destinations. And the way to tackle that is to diversify our business,” said Lam, who took Cathay’s recently launched direct flight to Adelaide.
“Through diversification, we are more resilient than ever before.”
He said the group was pushing further diversification of its businesses, including premium carrier Cathay Pacific, budget unit HK Express, cargo freight and its lifestyle offerings.
Captain Chris Kempis, Cathay’s director of flight operations, said geopolitics was also a factor prompting the group to expand pilot training beyond Adelaide into Arizona in the United States.
Cathay and HK Express were among Hong Kong airlines to offer flexible arrangements to customers affected by worsening tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.
More than 500,000 air trips from the mainland to Japan were cancelled after China issued a travel warning following comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that her country might intervene militarily in a conflict over Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau also updated its travel alert urging residents to exercise caution and prioritise personal safety in the country.
Lam pledged that Cathay would remain flexible when handling requests from affected passengers seeking flight cancellations, refunds or postponements.
He said the group was adding more destinations as a way to increase diversification and the number would hit 103 for Cathay and HK Express by the end of the year.
Following the debut of services to Changsha in mainland China and Adelaide earlier this month, more destinations would be launched next year, including Seattle in the US, in March, he said.
The Changsha route took the group’s total for routes between Hong Kong and the mainland to nearly 20.
“We are in good shape in terms of our destination coverage and frequency coverage worldwide,” he said.
He added that the new service to Adelaide marked the sixth destination in Australia with direct Cathay flights. Together with two other destinations in New Zealand, the total number between these two markets marked a historical high, he said.
Lam said the group had a “sufficient number of pilots to fly the flights if we need them to fly”, which would be 3,400 by the end of this year.
To maintain a diverse pipeline of pilots, more than half of them were trained internally while the rest were experienced professionals hired globally, he said.
“This is a good balance, and we will continue to develop a diverse, world-class pilot workforce,” he said.
At the Flight Training Adelaide centre, about 80 Cathay pilot trainees were honing their skills.
Joining the visit to the centre was Director General of Civil Aviation, Captain Victor Liu Chi-yung, who said this year marked the 25th anniversary of collaboration among Flight Training Adelaide, the Civil Aviation Department and airlines over the licensing regime of Hong Kong pilots trained and qualified in the country.
He said the collaboration strengthened ties between Hong Kong and Adelaide, helping to further business, tourism, education and other developments.
“Aviation is full of opportunities and changes ... we must ensure that [the licensing regime] will continue to evolve and embrace new technologies, new training requirements and engineering safety,’’ Liu said. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
