Hong Kong has fully restored global aviation hub status, IATA chief says

Hong Kong has fully regained its status as an international aviation hub, the head of an international association has said, arguing that some foreign airlines’ failure to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels in the city is due to supply chain and airspace issues rather than geopolitics.

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told the Post on Tuesday in Geneva that he stood by his earlier convictions about Hong Kong restoring its world-class aviation hub status by the end of this year.

“I think so [about Hong Kong regaining its aviation status]. And you know Cathay [Pacific Airways] will be at 100 per cent of 2019 capacity at the end of this year or from January next year,” he said at IATA’s headquarters in Geneva.

He pointed out the issue dogging the city’s aviation industry had more to do with supply chains and airspace issues than lacking attractiveness or geopolitical reasons.

“The reason that some foreign airlines have not returned or built up the capacity that they had is principally an aircraft and airspace issue. So it goes back to the supply chain,” he said.

“It’s because of the lack of availability of widebody aircraft … because of the additional maintenance time and checks that the existing aircraft require, much more so than anything to do with the market.