Cathay Pacific has nearly doubled its U.S. routes since Hong Kong became one of the last major global destinations to end COVID-19 travel restrictions in April 2023.
However, the airline was negatively affected by Boeing's delivery issues. This is a significant factor preventing Cathay Pacific from fully reopening its pre-pandemic U.S. network.
“We think the demand is there in North America,” said Sarah Kraemer, Cathay’s director of North American sales operations and support. “We are neither unique nor alone in that the entire industry is dealing with constraints related to aircraft, flight crews and ground operations.”
Cathay Pacific is flying to Hong Kong from New York JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, but pre-pandemic routes from Seattle, Washington Dulles and Newark are not yet scheduled. Overall, there are 40.4% fewer seats on flights to and from the U.S. this month than in May 2019, according to Cirium flight schedule data.
This is a different network dynamic than other full-service Asian airlines. Production capacity between the U.S. and mainland China remains well below pre-pandemic levels, in part due to capacity limits imposed by competing powers. However, Korean Air, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Singapore and Japan Airlines each flew at least 87% of their pre-pandemic U.S. seat capacity this month, with ANA and Singapore's seat capacity surpassing 2019 levels.
Kraemer said Cathay Pacific's long-haul growth was constrained by delays in the delivery of its Boeing 777-9 aircraft. The airline originally planned to take delivery of all 22 aircraft on order from 2021 until the end of this year. But Boeing has not yet achieved certification for the aircraft, so deliveries won't begin until next year at the earliest.
Kraemer said Cathay Pacific was coordinating its North American recovery to ensure stable operations while considering what was best for the entire network.
“North America is just one part of the overall Cathay Pacific network,” she said. “There are a lot of things that go into justifying or determining what gets added, because while we still have plans to grow in North America, it fits into the bigger picture.”
Cathay Pacific expects to achieve an 80% capacity recovery across its network this quarter and return to 2019 flight levels in the first quarter of next year.
Joshua Ng, director of Singapore-based Alton Aviation Consultancy, said Cathay Pacific was most aggressively focusing on rebuilding its regional network, a necessary element to renew and supply one-stop demand to North America and Europe through Hong Kong.
“This is a way to capture some of the benefits of increased flights and profitability while eventually returning to a pre-COVID environment,” Ng said.
This strategy helped Cathay Pacific Group, which also includes low-cost carrier Hong Kong Express in Asia, turn a profit in 2023 despite sluggish demand in the mainland Chinese market due to the Chinese economic downturn.
But in addition to aircraft delivery delays, Ng said Cathay Pacific's growth across its network was being constrained by labor shortages in Hong Kong, including a shortage of pilots.
Meanwhile, the airline has been focusing on rebuilding the U.S. over the past year, including increasing the frequency of routes it already operates.
For example, Cathay Pacific increased the frequency of its JFK-Hong Kong flights from twice a day a year ago to three times a day. On March 31, Cathay Pacific brought its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft back to JFK, allowing the airline to once again offer first class seating in the New York market.
