Cathay Pacific said May has been a "relatively positive" month for the carrier with the easing of flight crew restrictions in Hong Kong allowing for the reintroduction of more flights for both its passenger and cargo operations.

Frosti Lau, GM Cargo Service Delivery at Cathay said already in May the number of transpacific freighter flights has gone up from nine to 15 a week, with an additional service to Europe as well.

The resumption of more passenger flights in Cathay's network will also further add capacity to its operations.

"It's been a relatively positive month for Cathay Pacific. Across the airline, colleagues are working to rebuild our schedule and network, both for our freighter and passenger services, following the Hong Kong SAR Government's decision to adjust quarantine restrictions on flight crew," Lau said.

The Hong Kong government dropped the earlier implemented mandatory quarantine for locally-based aircrew on cargo flights and reduced to three days from seven the isolation requirement for aircrew on passenger flights as the city slowly eases tight Covid-19 measures that have largely isolated Hong Kong.

More cargo capacity

"We are actively adding back as many freighter services as possible," he added. "There will also be extra capacity drip-feeding in from the passenger fleet as services start to reactivate over the course of the year."

The Cathay executive noted that these include daily flights to London Heathrow from early June, and more flights to the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand.

Nonetheless, Lau mentioned existing challenges that remain ⁠— continuing to hold back full recovery of the supply chain.

"While our cargo capacity starts to increase, the overall market recovery is not without its challenges, and there continue to be kinks in the supply chain," Lau said.

"The lockdowns are starting to ease in Shanghai, but there has been an impact on both manufacturing output and the supply chain," he added.

"Closer to home, there have been more tests for our innovation and agility. We are taking a closer look at the multi-modal trial that saw cargo from Dongguan transported to Hong Kong International Airport's temporary intermodal cargo ferry pier by boat, which helped keep some cargo moving during the embargo, together with efforts from the Hong Kong SAR Government to facilitate more cross-border trucking between the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong," Lau further said.

"Having these multi-modal options in play for the future will be very helpful."

Market recovery

The Cathay Cargo executive said the overall market recovery is dependent on taking control of the pandemic.

For the airline, Lau noted how Cathay has played its part in distributing significant amounts of vaccines and medical equipment from Australia to South East Asia via its Hong Kong hub.

"This was a good test of our Vaccine Solution and a clear demonstration of the reassurance provided by our CEIV Pharma accreditation both on board and at the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal," Lau said, adding that Cathay has also received its recertification earlier this year for CEIV Fresh.