Cathay Pacific announced that it has bought back 50% of the Hong Kong SAR government's preference shares and plans to buy back the remainder by the end of July 2024 as it continues to fortify and rebuild its business.

"The Cathay Group has reached another key milestone in its rebuild journey today and bought back 50% — HK$9.75 billion — of the HK$19.5 billion preference shares that were issued to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government as part of the Cathay Group's recapitalisation financing in 2020," the announcement said.

"The Cathay Group also intends to buy back the remaining 50% by the end of July 2024, subject to market conditions and its business operations at the relevant time," it added.

In addition to buying back HK$9.75 billion of the preference shares, the Cathay Group will continue to pay dividends on the remaining preference shares as they fall due.

It said that to date, the Cathay Group has disbursed HK$1.97 billion in preference share dividends to the HKSAR Government.

"We are extremely grateful to both the HKSAR Government and our shareholders for the continued support they have provided both during and since the pandemic. The investment by the Government was essential in supporting the Cathay Group and upholding Hong Kong's status as an international aviation hub through the COVID-19 crisis," said Ronald Lam, chief executive officer at Cathat Group.

"That we have been able to redeem half of the preference shares is testament to the hard work of our people and the encouraging progress we have made in our journey to rebuild," he added.

"We will continue to commit ourselves toward our vision to become one of the world's greatest service brands and the pride of Hong Kong once again," Lam added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the aviation industry as the majority of planes were forced to ground amid global travel restrictions as the world fought to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Hong Kong, in particular, has been heavily hit by these disruptions as the city mainly relies on international aviation volumes.

Since it lifted its restrictions and reopened in February 2023, the city has seen a continuous rebound in passenger volumes. 

Cathay Pacific reported that as of October 2023, the airline is "on track" to achieve its target for the year to operate 70% of its pre-pandemic passenger flights covering about 80 destinations.

The Hong Kong flag carrier projects that it will be back to 95% of pre-pandemic passenger numbers by the end of 2023.