Hong Kong flight capacity set to rise 10% on China, South Korea demand
Global capacity for May has been reduced by about three percentage points, according to data
Published Tue, Apr 21, 2026 · 02:12 PM
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong’s flight capacity is set to increase around 10 per cent in the second quarter, driven by additional seats on routes to China and South Korea, even as services to the Middle East decline.
Capacity to China and South Korea is set to rise 17 to 30 per cent year on year, Bloomberg Intelligence said in a note published on Tuesday (Apr 21). Parts of South-east Asia are also showing robust expansion, led by Vietnam and Malaysia, on demand for short-haul leisure travel, analysts Eric Zhu and George Ferguson wrote in the note.
Long-haul routes, including to the US and Australia, are expected to post gains of 15 to 16 per cent.
Despite the dual shocks of the Iran conflict and soaring jet fuel costs, airlines are maintaining Hong Kong’s status as a transit hub. Cathay Pacific Airways’ passenger numbers rose 25 per cent in March from a year earlier, with its passenger load factor jumping almost 10 percentage points to 92 per cent as travellers look for routes that bypass the Gulf region.
Patches of regional weakness persist, with Japan capacity flat, while Thailand and Singapore face continued demand softness, according to the note.
Global capacity for May has been reduced by about three percentage points, with all but one of the 20 largest airlines slashing flights, according to data compiled by analytics firm Cirium. BLOOMBERG
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