China’s Civil Aviation Maintains Steady Recovery, Cathay Group Posts Record Three-Year Performance

In 2025, China’s civil aviation industry maintained a steady recovery momentum, with the annual passenger traffic reaching 620 million person-times, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%. Among this, the passenger traffic on international routes recovered to 85% of the 2019 level, reflecting the industry’s robust vitality.

As a core global international aviation hub, Hong Kong International Airport saw a steady rebound in annual passenger traffic in 2025, with its passenger and cargo hub functions upgraded simultaneously. This has laid a solid hub foundation for the development of regional airlines and strengthened its position as a key link in global air transportation.

It was learned that Cathay Group achieved a cumulative profit of over HK$30 billion between 2023 and 2025, setting the best three-year performance in the group’s history. In 2025 alone, the group’s overall passenger traffic reached 36 million person-times, a year-on-year growth of 27%, driven by the recovery of global air travel demand and the group’s strategic adjustments.

Lin Shaobo, Chief Executive Officer of Cathay Group, stated that 2026 marks the start of the group’s five-year development plan and its 80th anniversary, adding that the group will continue to focus on team building, customer experience upgrading and cost control to further enhance its competitiveness.

Liu Kaishi, Director of Customer and Commercial at Cathay Group, noted that the group added 20 new passenger destinations in 2025, bringing the total number of global destinations to over 100. It is expected that the overall capacity will increase by 10% in 2026. 

In terms of product upgrading, the Elegance Business Class has been deployed on 14 Boeing 777 aircraft, and the group will launch the regional route-exclusive Comfort Business Class within the year, while optimizing the seat space in the economy class of narrow-body aircraft to improve passenger comfort.

In the cargo sector, the group will rely on its core layouts including 40 global cargo destinations and the Dongguan Airport Logistics Center to support the "Guangdong Goods Going Global" initiative, continuously consolidating Hong Kong’s leading position as an international cargo hub and promoting the smooth flow of cross-border trade.