Cathay Group eyes ‘substantial’ new aircraft order for 2030s
September 25, 2025
Cathay Group is preparing to launch another major fleet expansion programme covering regional widebodies, narrowbodies and freighters, with decisions expected in the coming years for deliveries in the first half of the 2030s.
Speaking at Routes World in Hong Kong, Cathay Group CEO Ronald Lam outlined the carrier’s long-term fleet strategy, built around a 10-year plan.
He said the group expected to make a “substantial” aircraft order or orders covering the five years to 2035.
“Fleet planning is really important to support our network development, and we’ve been doing this very systematically,” he said.
“We actually have a 10 year plan… from 2026 to 2035, and for the first five years of the 10 year plan we are pretty much sorted in our fleet acquisition. Each year we have a number of new fleets joining us.”
Cathay’s fleet expansion
First, Cathay Pacific and HK Express will continue to add Airbus narrowbodies. “Next year we will have a number of narrow body aircraft from Airbus, A321neos as well as A320neos, joining Cathay Pacific and HK Express,” Lam said.
The carrier’s first Boeing 777-9s are due in 2027, marking the start of its next-generation long-haul fleet renewal.
The following year will see the arrival of both Airbus A330neos and A350 freighters.
Looking beyond 2030, Cathay sees big fleet decisions still ahead. “Now our focus is on the second five years of the 10 year plan for our fleet planning. The first such announcement is more 777-9s will be joining us in that second five years. The 14 additional orders make a total of 35 777-9s in the next decade that will be joining us,” Lam said.
But Cathay is also preparing to commit to additional aircraft types across its network.
“We also have a number of decisions that we need to make in the second half of the 10-year plan. Regional widebodies, we need more of them. Narrowbodies, we need more of them. And freighters, we will need more of them. So we’re working with our shareholders to make some decisions in the coming years to fulfill the requirements for the second half of the 10 year plan,” Lam said.
He indicated that the scale of the commitment will be significant. “The order size I believe will be substantial, because we are really committed to the development of Hong Kong and Hong Kong International Airport,” he added.
“Now we have already committed well over 100 billion Hong Kong dollars (£10 billion). But we won’t stop there; we will look at the needs of Hong Kong, the needs of China as a whole, and we will continue to invest.”
