Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it would place an US$8.1-billion order for 14 Boeing jets, its first with the US aircraft maker for more than a decade. In a filing to the city’s stock exchange, the airline said it would “purchase 14 Boeing 777-9 aircraft” and had “secured the right to acquire up to seven additional Boeing 777-9 aircraft.” Cathay already has a fleet of more than 230 mostly passenger aircraft. The new order expects the aircraft to be delivered by 2034, according to a separate filing.
Cathay was one of the first buyers to commit to Boeing’s 777X programme when it unveiled the purchase of 21 aircraft in 2013. Boeing said in a statement the new deal brought the order book of 777-9 aircraft — “the world’s largest twin-engine airplane” — to 35. The jets, designed to reduce fuel use and emissions, would meet Cathay’s growing global travel demand, Boeing added.
Hong Kong’s aviation sector was hit hard by Covid-era policies, which imposed strict rules on travellers that kept it internationally isolated before they were lifted in late 2022. In 2024, Cathay’s attributable profit rose slightly to US$1.27 billion, and it announced earlier this year that its flights were finally back to pre-pandemic levels.
On Wednesday, the firm reported its attributable profit rose slightly to HK$3.65 billion (US$4.65 million) in the first six months of 2025, benefiting from a pick-up in travel demand in Asia. Total revenue in that period increased 9.5 percent to US$6.92 billion. The company also declared an interim dividend of HK$20 cents per share.
Chairman Patrick Healy heralded a “solid financial performance” in the filing. “Our first-half result was driven by higher passenger volumes albeit with lower yields, a consistent cargo performance, and lower fuel price compared with the same period in 2024,” Healy said. The company’s passenger airlines, including Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Express, have launched or announced 19 new destinations so far in 2025, with “more to come,” he said, adding that they now fly to more than 100 passenger destinations.
The airline this month said it had resumed direct flights to Brussels after a long break caused by the pandemic. Cathay carried a total of 13.6 million passengers in the first half of this year — an average of 75,300 per day, and up 28 percent from the same period last year. But the firm also saw a drop of 0.6 percent in profit margin for the first half of the year.
Wednesday’s results were also dragged down by rising costs, while Healy warned in the filing that its low-cost airline HK Express was facing short-term challenges as a pick-up in bookings was “yet to return to normal levels.” Cathay’s share price in Hong Kong fell more than nine percent.
© 2024 AFP
