Chinese tycoon takes on Cathay with new airline in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

A NEW airline with ties to Beijing is trying to muscle into Hong Kong, a patch long dominated by Cathay Pacific Airways. Founded by property magnate Bill Wong, Greater Bay Airlines has ambitions to fly to 104 destinations in mainland China and North, South and South-east Asia.

Scheduled flights have not begun yet, with the carrier only receiving its air operator's certificate at the beginning of the month and an air-transport licence still to be procured.

Starting an airline at the tail end of a pandemic that has decimated travel worldwide may sound unwise. But 62-year-old Wong isn't a total novice.

He already owns one carrier, Shenzhen-headquartered Donghai Airlines, which services a raft of Chinese cities as well as a few regional routes.

Greater Bay Airlines' entry into Hong Kong also comes at a low point for Cathay, the iconic carrier controlled by conglomerate Swire Pacific.

Even before Covid-19 arrived, Cathay was impacted by its association with the 2019 pro-democracy protests in the former British colony, forcing a change in management.

Hong Kong is sticking to a Covid-zero strategy, so Cathay can only watch on as carriers in places such as Singapore and Indonesia prepare to ramp up international routes.

With no domestic market and mainland China's borders still closed even to Hong Kong, Cathay's passenger traffic languishes at about 5 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

"We are starting from new, so we don't have the burden or the baggage," Greater Bay Airlines' CEO Algernon Yau said, suggesting that Covid-19 has levelled the playing field. Greater Bay Airlines can be more agile and flexible than a legacy carrier like Cathay, he noted.

It also has a ready-made travelling public on its doorstep, considering the Greater Bay Area covers Hong Kong, Macau and municipalities in Guangdong province with a population north of 86 million. BLOOMBERG