Cathay Pacific CEO: Summer Demand Is Holding Up Despite Fuel Price Shock

The spike in jet fuel prices was a dominant talking point at this week’s IATA Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, forcing airlines to ask how much pain they can absorb before passengers start feeling it.

For Cathay Pacific, the answer – at least for now – appears to be quite a lot. Speaking to Skift on the sidelines of the conference, Group CEO Ronald Lam said the carrier is seeing little evidence that demand is weakening despite higher operating costs and continued geopolitical uncertainty.

“We had a very strong quarter one into quarter two,” Lam said. “Then, like all airlines in the world, we faced the jet fuel price escalation.”

But unlike previous disruptions, Cathay is not pulling back schedules significantly. “Our objective is to try to keep our flight capacity intact, whether it’s long-haul or short-haul flights,” he said.

The Hong Kong-based carrier canceled a relatively small number of flights earlier in the crisis and exp