Cathay Pacific Posts First Operating Profit Since Before Pandemic

Cathay is still playing catch-up after Hong Kong took much longer than elsewhere outside China to dismantle its Covid controls

(Bloomberg) — Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. posted an annual operating profit for the first time since 2019 after Hong Kong opened for quarantine-free travel again following more than two years of Covid restrictions.

Operating profit in 2022 was HK$3.55 billion ($452 million), comfortably beating the HK$2.87 billion average estimate from analysts. Revenue grew 12% to HK$51.04 billion, Hong Kong’s main airline said Wednesday in a statement, missing analysts’ HK$52.7 billion average forecast.