Cathay Pacific woos travellers with cheapest tickets since Covid

CATHAY Pacific Airways plans to start selling some of its cheapest tickets in more than three-and-a-half years on Thursday (Aug 17), offloading 100,000 round-trip economy seats at steep discounts.

Hong Kong’s main airline is running the promotional offer to more than 30 destinations for travel between January to June 2024. The two-week sale starts at 2.00 pm local time, though tickets are likely to be snapped up quickly.

Among the biggest discounts on offer are flights to London for HK$5,538 (S$963), including taxes and surcharges. Cathay is currently selling tickets to London in the second week of January for HK$12,563 – typical of the inflated prices travellers are paying as the airline rebuilds from Covid.

The carrier’s revenue over recent months has been buoyed by strong demand, limited supply and high airfares, helping it post its largest first-half profit in 13 years.

Other destinations on sale include Bangkok, Singapore and Seoul, and long-haul flights to Sydney, Tel Aviv, Amsterdam and Chicago.

An airline spokesperson said it was running the campaign to tempt travellers to fly more, including to destinations they wouldn’t otherwise try, as Cathay adds capacity. The airline will top 70 per cent of pre-Covid capacity by the end of 2023, and fully recover by the end of next year. BLOOMBERG