Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a summit for Asia-Pacific airlines in Singapore on Friday, Cathay Pacific chief Ronald Lam described the dynamic between the two flag carriers as “constructive, healthy competition that will drive improvement on both sides”.
He said: “(SIA) is a world-class airline… and we believe we are one of those as well. We had our challenges before and during Covid-19, and now we’re catching up.”
One of the hardest-hit airlines during the pandemic, Cathay Pacific has since restored about 70 per cent of its passenger flight capacity, ahead of schedule following the lifting of travel curbs by the territory in December 2022.
Mr Lam said Singapore is an important city for the carrier, and Cathay Pacific now operates eight flights a day between Hong Kong and the Republic, which is close to pre-pandemic levels.
The airline’s next target is a full recovery by the end of 2024, which is not far off SIA’s projection of returning to full capacity sometime between April 2024 and March 2025.
SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong said in a separate interview that even if some of its competitors in the region are slow in restoring capacity, the national carrier cannot take them for granted.
“I think we have to take them very seriously as they recover,” he said.
While competition between airlines in the region continues to hot up, airline chiefs at Friday’s meeting flagged other concerns.
Mr Lam said Cathay Pacific’s biggest bottleneck now is the training of pilots, cabin crew and ground staff, as it looks to hire another 5,000 workers across the airline group in 2024.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 14, 2023 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 14, 2023 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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