Cathay Pacific sees a “good chance” for growth in Southeast Asia, pointing to strong travel demand, as well as airport capacity expansion in the region.
Cathay regional general manager for Southeast Asia and Oceania Frosti Lau says the region is a “key spot” to test new markets, especially with its fleet of Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Lau, who was speaking in Singapore on 27 January, says Cathay has identified markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia among those it sees as network “growth engines”.
He gives examples such as Phnom Penh’s new Techo international airport, as well as the upcoming Long Thanh airport near Ho Chi Minh City, among new developments that “open up [opportunities] in terms of better catchment, and… bigger connectivity of passengers that go through”.
Lau adds that the A321neos “build in flexibility” into network planning, allowing Cathay to “test the market”, either by introducing new points to its network, or right-sizing some of its existing slots.
Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that Cathay has 16 A321neos in service, with another 14 on order.
“I do see another opportunity [with the A321neos]… in that the aircraft has a longer range than the previous version, so there are opportunities… to look at more destinations… further away,” Lau adds.
Nonetheless, he says the airline is looking at “steady growth” this year, given its rapid recovery in the two years or so since Hong Kong reopened its borders.
“Looking at the growth momentum [this year], it may not be as fast as [what] we had been doing [during] our rebuild in the past two, three years, but… we will look at steady growth,” Lau says.
“Then we are looking at what are the routes that [we can] beef up… either by using [larger] aircraft to serve the demand, or looking at [routes with] strategic importance,” he adds.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a media event marking the arrival of an Airbus A350 bearing Cathay’s special 80th anniversary livery into Singapore.
His comments echo that of Cathay customer and commercial chief Lavinia Lau, who in November told FlightGlobal that the airline group, which also comprises low-cost unit HK Express, will look to “optimise” its network.
This includes boosting capacity to existing trunk routes, or turning seasonal operations into regular flights.
