AERIAL TRIUMPHS: EXPLORING CATHAY PACIFIC’S SKYWARD JOURNEY

In an interview with Megha Mary Mathews, Shanna Docherty, Cathay Pacific’s Country Lead for South Africa and Regional Head of Trade Sales for the Middle East and Africa (MEA), shares her insights on the dynamic aviation landscape in the region. From the evolving needs of the MEA market to Cathay Pacific’s strategic initiatives, Docherty offers a unique perspective on how the airline is adapting and thriving in an ever-changing environment.

Can you share insights into Cathay Pacific’s recent journey into the first quarter of 2024 and its significance for the airline’s sustainability journey?

We have made strong progress in our  journey to rebuild a Cathay fit for the  future needs of our customers. As we  focus on 2024 and beyond, our priority  is to ensure high-quality and sustainable  growth as we prepare for the full  operation of the Three-Runway System  at Hong Kong International Airport by  the end of this year.

This milestone marks an exciting new chapter in the growth of our home hub and opens up a wide range of opportunities. Our investments will span our fleet, our customer experience and our people.

We are moving towards achieving our  vision of becoming one of the world’s  greatest service brands by focusing on  our customers, our people and the Hong  Kong international aviation hub, and  continuously investing in them. 

We achieved our end-2023 Group  target of 70% pre-pandemic passenger  flights as planned, and we will reach  80% within the second quarter of 2024.  As a Group, we currently fly to around  80 passenger destinations around the  world. We will continue to strengthen  our existing major routes and develop  routes connecting Hong Kong with more  destinations in the Chinese Mainland  and along the Belt and Road. 

What specific measures is the airlines  implementing to achieve its near-term target of improving carbon intensity  by 2030, and how do these initiatives  align with the airline’s long-term  sustainability goals? 

Building upon our commitment of  achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, we at Cathay set a new near-term  target to improve our carbon intensity  by 12% from the 2019 level by 2030.  To achieve this goal, our focus remains  on accelerating SAF use, modernising  the fleet and driving operational  improvements.

Further, our key initiatives include:

Accelerating the use of SAF: SAF  remains the most important lever for  achieving Cathay’s new carbon intensity  target and net-zero operations in the  long run.  

In addition to driving further development  of the SAF supply chain in the region  and conducting its first overseas SAF  uplift on commercial flights, Cathay  has also expanded its Corporate SAF  Programme by establishing partnerships  with new corporate clients and a non governmental organisation.

Moving towards more sustainable use  of resources: Cathay Pacific set a new  target to decrease passenger-facing  SUP items from an average of 7.7 pieces  per passenger in 2019 to 1.5 pieces by  2025. Additionally, Cathay Pacific aims  to reduce cabin waste by 30% from the  2019 baseline by 2030. 

These will be achieved through incorporating circular economy principles into its product and service design by selecting more sustainable or recycled materials upstream, and channeling used items back for recycling or repurposing.

Revitalising the Hong Kong community: Cathay successfully rejuvenated the Cathay Volunteer Team and engaged in a variety of youth-centric programmes aligned with the Hong Kong SAR Government Strive and Rise Programme, including the popular Cathay Community Flight and Aviation Exploration Days.

In what ways has the airlines revitalized its engagement, particularly through youth-centric programmes such as the Cathay Community Flight and Aviation Exploration Days?

With the support of our Cathay Volunteer Team, we continued our longstanding commitment to youth development in Hong Kong through a series of initiatives aligned with the Hong Kong SAR Government Strive and Rise Programme.

This included welcoming approximately 1,600 participating students and mentors to our facilities for several Aviation Exploration Days as well as the return of the popular Cathay Community Flight.

Cathay is excited to bring back the flagship I Can Fly programme on its 20th anniversary this year. To strengthen the understanding of our job offering and the airline operations, we arranged career talks and visits to our headquarters for the local youth.

In addition, we collaborated with different educational institutions in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland, and abroad to attract more young talents to our aviation world. Our commitment to fostering tech talent was on full display at the Cathay Hackathon 2023, with 280 students participating from a record-breaking 1,500 applications. Through different youth development programmes, we are fully committed to providing young people with unique industry exposure and experiences.

As the airline’s Country Lead for South Africa and Regional Head of Trade Sales MEA, how do you envision promoting and advocating for the airline’s sustainability initiatives within your region?

Sustainability initiatives involve a strategic approach and need to align with both our company – Cathay’s goals and the broader environmental and societal needs of the region. Ongoing engagement and open communication with key stakeholder groups is crucial to building collaborative relationships and creating long-term value.