The chief executive of Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) has said he hopes to have all of his parked aircraft in the air by the start of 2024. Ronald Lam told Bloomberg TV this week that the airline was steadily returning aircraft to service so that it aims to operate 70% of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the end of this year, and 100% by the end of 2024.
"At the end of 2022, we had 222 aircraft in our fleet, and around 20% of them were parked outside of Hong Kong," he said. "We’ve been steadily unparking them this year and hopefully, by early next year, all the aircraft will be unparked."
ch-aviation fleets advanced data shows that Cathay Pacific has 67 inactive aircraft, with 11 of these out of service for maintenance reasons. The remaining 56 are stored at Hong Kong, Alice Springs, Ciudad Real, and Xiamen.
The data reveals that three A320-200s, two A321-200s, nine A330-300s, eleven B777-300s, and eleven B777-300(ER)s are at Alice Springs. A single B777-300(ER) is stored at Xiamen, while eight A330-300s are still at Ciudad Real. The remaining 11 aircraft are stored at Hong Kong International. Cathay Pacific subsidiary HK Express (UO, Hong Kong International) also has two A321-200s parked at Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific has experienced a swift rebound since Hong Kong and mainland China reopened, according to Lam, who said: "We’ve been seeing light at the end of the tunnel since late last year."
Cathay’s well-publicised employee attrition rates have now subsided to normal levels, although labour shortages remain a challenge. "We’re still seeing supply-side constraints, mainly on the manpower front, and when I say manpower, it’s not just in the air but also on the ground," he said. He added that the airline was looking to recruit a further 3,000 workers this year but denied Cathay was facing a staffing crisis.
"Hong Kong opened up late, so there’s quite a lot of catch-up," he admitted. "But I think we are making good progress, and we are moving very fast as a city and as an airline. I’m very confident that given a little bit more time, we’ll be back on par with other cities and airlines."
The US Department of Transportation has drafted a policy proposal that would ban Chinese airlines overflying Russian airspace from operating to and from the United States, sources briefed on the proposal have told The New York Times.
The draft was reportedly presented to the national security team, but it has yet to be published or officially acknowledged. The Biden Administration is currently reportedly evaluating the potential diplomatic fallout from imposing such a ban, which would likely significantly antagonise China.
The news follows a lobbying offensive by Airlines for America, an industry group for US carriers. The airlines and policymakers have been lobbying in Washington for weeks to restrict foreign airlines from using Russian airspace on their flights to the US. They argue that the ability to use Russian airspace gives foreign carriers an unfair advantage and also poses a safety risk to US passengers on board in case of a potential diversion.
Airlines from the United States, the European Union, and several allied countries were banned from Russian airspace in March 2022. The ban was a response…
Air Hong Kong (LD, Hong Kong International) will retire its entire A300F fleet by the end of next year according to data contained in Cathay Pacific‘s 2022 Annual Report and first noted by CargoFacts. By the end of 2024, all nine A300-600(F)s will he returned to their lessors, to be replaced by second-hand A330Fs.
In addition to the A300-600(F)s, Air Hong Kong also has two A330-200Fs and five A330-300(P2F)s in its fleet, which the interim report indicates are due to be handed back to their owners in 2027. According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, Air Hong Kong acquired its current A300F fleet over 2004 and 2005. Eight of the nine aircraft come on leases from DHL Express while the ninth, B-LDH (msn 871) is leased from AELF – Aircraft Engine Lease Finance.
Since securing the A300-600(F)s almost two decades ago, Air Hong Kong has primarily operated the aircraft on behalf of DHL Express, while any excess capacity is used by Cathay Cargo (CX, Hong Kong International)….
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Following the collapse of its equity partnership with Etihad Aviation Group, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is now trying to lure Qatar as a new strategic partner for Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade).
“Today, Air Serbia is completely in Serbia’s hands, we are doing well, and we have a clear profit, but we are looking to avoid possible risks in the future because it’s not all up to us what will happen,” Vučić said during an international summit in Doha.
The Serbian president met with Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to discuss potential investment options. In his brief statement, Vučić did not offer any further details regarding the partnership. He did not specify whether Belgrade was trying to partner directly with the Qatari government or with the state-owned Qatar Airways Group.
Despite Vučić’s claim about wholly Serbian ownership of Air Serbia, the Etihad Airways parent retains a 16.42% stake in the airline. The Abu Dhabi holding acquired 49% in the airline, then known as Jat Airways, in 2013 during a James…
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