Hong Kong Airlines recently celebrated its 18th anniversary by unveiling a new strategic development plan to provide a roadmap for its future growth. The cornerstone of the new plan will see the carrier make a return to the long-haul market in early 2025 as the airline looks to restore its international network. This strategic move will kick-start the airline’s transformation from a regional carrier to an international airline, with a focus on expanding its global route network.
Following a successful restructuring process undertaken over the past year, the carrier has enjoyed a period of sustained growth and recovery. This has been achieved through “optimizing its route network and fleet structure,” says the airline. Hong Kong Airlines currently serves a regional network of over 30 destinations with its fleet of 30 aircraft. This comprises 14 Airbus A320-200s, one A321-200, five A330-200s, and 10 A330-300s, although nine of the A330s remain inactive at the time of writing, according to ch-aviation.
Throughout 2024, the airline has fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels in terms of flight operations and expects to transport over five million passengers during the current year. In 2024, the carrier reported a network load factor of 85%. The airline reports that bookings for the Christmas and Lunar New Year period have already reached 85%, with those serving the ski resort routes in Northeast Asia reaching 90%. The airline has planned to meet the additional demand with extra services over these peak travel periods.
To kick off the long-haul strategy, Hong Kong Airlines will resume its Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to Gold Coast-Coolangatta Airport (OOL) direct service on January 17, 2025, operating the route four times weekly. It will also resume its route to Vancouver Airport (YVR) on January 18, 2025. This service will operate twice weekly. To meet demand, the airline will also increase flight frequencies in December 2024, with the launch of flights to Sendai, increasing flights to Seoul to twice daily and Tokyo (five times daily), with Sapporo becoming a daily flight.
To support its international expansion plans, Hong Kong Airlines has significantly expanded its fleet in 2024, with the reintroduction of several Airbus A330-300 widebody aircraft to support its medium and long-haul route networks. The airline also introduced its first Airbus A321 aircraft which is configured with 220 all-economy class seats. By the end of 2024, the carrier’s fleet is expected to grow to 30 active aircraft and the company intends to continue expanding the fleet size as needed to further increase its capacity.
According to the company, “The diversified fleet configuration will support flight flexibility and coverage, facilitating passengers with convenient access from Hong Kong to popular tourist destinations in mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, the United States, Canada, and Europe. In addition to operating its own routes, the airline will continue to collaborate with partners to expand its codeshare network, provide seamless sea-land-air intermodal transportation, and strive to offer service diversity.”
Expansion across the board
The third runway system (3RS) at Hong Kong International Airport is scheduled to fully commence operations at the end of November 2024, which its planned will significantly enhance the airport’s throughput, optimize flight departure and arrival processes, and improve operational efficiency and passenger experience.
Hong Kong Airlines said in a statement that it intends to “utilize the ‘airport city’ infrastructure at Hong Kong Airport and surrounding aviation network to deepen cooperation with cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), and promote intermodal transportation, such as seamless ‘air-land-air’ transfers via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, to provide passengers with a more convenient travel experience.”
To cope with its planned business growth, Hong Kong Airlines has recruited more than 600 new employees in 2024, which has brought the airline’s total complement of cabin crew to more than 1,200. Looking ahead, the number of employees is expected to increase by 60% in 2025, with a 60% increase in pilots and another large increase in cabin crew. Recruitment will continue in the carrier’s home market local market as well as the GBA, South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
In 2024, the airline prioritized the restoration of in-flight entertainment systems on multiple A330 aircraft, with some of them introducing wireless streaming technology, allowing passengers to access and enjoy online content using their personal mobile devices. The airline targets to fully restore full service by 2025. Additionally, Hong Kong Airlines also reopened its VIP lounge, Club Autus, in 2023 at Hong Kong International Airport’s midfield concourse. The lounge offers exclusive services such as massage chairs and traditional Hong Kong-style delicacies.