Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Chairman’s Statement
In our previous annual report, I wrote that 2020 was the most challenging year in our history. The
unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19 to the global aviation industry and the subsequent travel and
operational restrictions around the world have continued to affect our business severely. Notwithstanding
these challenges, the situation did improve as 2021 progressed.
The second half of the year is traditionally stronger than the first half, and this was the case for us in 2021.
The exceptional performance of our cargo business, especially during the second-half peak season, was
extremely encouraging. Nevertheless, we continued to face serious challenges and despite the considerable
improvement in results in the second half of the year, our overall loss for the full year was still substantial.
The Cathay Pacific Group’s attributable loss was HK$5,527 million in 2021 (2020: loss of HK$21,648 million).
The loss per ordinary share in 2021 was HK95.1 cents (2020: loss per ordinary share of HK424.3 cents). The
Group’s attributable profit was HK$2,038 million in the second half of 2021 (2021 first half: loss of HK$7,565
million; 2020 second half: loss of HK$11,783 million). Cathay Pacific reported an attributable profit of
HK$3,303 million in the second half of 2021 (2021 first half: loss of HK$5,031 million; 2020 second half: loss
of HK$10,032 million).
The loss for 2021 includes impairment and related charges of HK$832 million, mainly relating to 12 aircraft
that are unlikely to re-enter meaningful economic service before they retire or are returned to lessors, HK$385
million in restructuring costs and a HK$210 million gain on the dilution of an associate interest in Air China
Cargo. This compares to impairment and related charges of HK$4,056 million in 2020 relating to 34 aircraft
(and to certain airline service subsidiaries’ assets) and HK$2,383 million of restructuring costs. Adjusting for
these exceptional items, the Cathay Pacific Group’s attributable loss for 2021 was HK$4,520 million (2020:
loss of HK$15,209 million), and Cathay Pacific’s loss for 2021 was HK$776 million (2020: loss of HK$12,195
million).
Cathay Pacific celebrated an important milestone in our history in 2021 as we marked 75 years of bringing
people together as Hong Kong’s home airline. Though we have certainly experienced our share of challenges
over the years, COVID-19 key among them, we have also had incredible successes. Throughout our history,
we have connected people to new destinations, welcomed the arrival of state-of-the-art aircraft and launched
exciting innovations. As our home city has grown, so have we, and we are immensely proud to have
represented Hong Kong over the past 75 years and to have helped it grow into one of the leading international
aviation hubs in the world.
But 2021 was not just a year for reflecting on our past. The launch of “Cathay”, our new premium travel lifestyle
brand, has opened an exciting new chapter. Cathay aims to bring all that we love about travel together with
everyday lifestyle. This will simplify the way our customers interact with us, including how they earn status and
use miles, and will enable us to engage with them not only when they fly with us, but every day.
We also celebrated the inaugural flight of the newest addition to our fleet, the Airbus A321neo, in August.
These state-of-the-art passenger aircraft provide the best short-haul experience in the world. Cathay Pacific
has already taken delivery of five A321neos and will have 16 in its fleet by the end of 2023.
We continued our commitment to achieving greener aviation by pledging to use sustainable aviation fuel for
10% of Cathay Pacific’s total fuel consumption by 2030, and by becoming a founding member of the Aviation
Climate Taskforce, a new non-profit organisation founded to tackle the challenge of eliminating carbon
emissions in aviation through innovation and collaboration. These initiatives will help the Group achieve its
goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Business performance of Cathay Pacific
The introduction of strict quarantine requirements for Hong Kong-based aircrew in February 2021 had a
substantial impact on our travel business. To operate the remaining schedules, we introduced voluntary closed-
loop duty cycles for our Hong Kong-based aircrew, comprising a 21-day duty cycle followed by a 14-day
quarantine period. These arrangements have been very demanding for our aircrew and we are incredibly
appreciative to them for their support and their tireless professionalism in the face of extremely challenging
circumstances.
