On Friday, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways forecasts its first half-year profit in three years, buoyed by a strong rebound in travel demand and one-off gain from a stake sale in Air China.
The city's biggest carrier had experienced record losses for the last three years because it parked much of its fleet during the pandemic due to a lack of demand in response to COVID-related flight cancellations and severe headcount cuts due to restrictions.
The first five months of this year, Cathay Pacific had about 6.3 million passengers, compared to a meagre figure of about 185,000 last year.
Shares of the airline were trading 0.5 per cent lower on the London Stock Exchange, while the Hang Seng Composite Index was down 1.6 per cent.
The rebound in travel has far exceeded expectations, prompting carriers to expand their fleet, improve flight frequencies, and add new destinations.
The Cathay Group has seen a strong rebound in the performance of our airlines and our cash flow has continued to improve, the airline said in a statement.
Cathay Pacific is expected to make a net profit of $3.44 billion this year, compared to a loss attributable to HK $7.16 billion last year.
An estimated HK $1.90 billion, $242.64 million, one-off gain from the near 1.9 per cent stake sale in Air China is also expected to benefit the bottom line in the first half, the airline said.