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Bloomberg
Hong Kong Airlines Ltd said it expects to return to 75% of pre-pandemic capacity by the end of this year and 100% by mid-2024, after increasing
operations to 30% this month.
The carrier, which had a $6.3 billion debt restructuring plan approved by courts in December, is also raising basic pay by 8% and lifting flying hourly rates for crew by up to 10%, according to a statement. Ground staff will receive a 5% basic salary pay rise.
Workers have been brought back from long pay leave and Hong Kong Airlines plans to hire 1,000 new employees by the end of 2023 — 120 pilots, 500 cabin crew and 380 ground staff, it said. That will bring the workforce back to 60% to 70% of pre-Covid levels.
“We have leveraged every travel recovery opportunity over the past few months amidst unprecedented pent-up demand, and we continue to see positive business growth, particularly from the Japanese markets,†Chairman Hou Wei said.
“Mainland China will definitely be the next market to contribute significantly to our travel recovery efforts,†he said, adding flights there have now doubled to 35 sectors a week.