Typhoon Ragasa: Cathay Pacific targets ‘orderly recovery’ after moving 50 aircraft to safety
September 25, 2025
Cathay Group says it is aiming for an “orderly recovery” after the disruption caused by Typhoon Ragasa, with more than 50 aircraft in the wrong place after being flown out of Hong Kong to avoid potential storm damage, CEO Ronald Lam said.
“We had to ferry more than 50 aircraft outside of Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia, to ensure the chance of any aircraft damage is minimal,” Lam said at Routes World in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong International Airport was closed for a day and a half as the category 10 (the strongest category) typhoon swept through the territory, forcing a complete halt to passenger and cargo flights.
Authorities raised the highest storm alert as the cyclone brought destructive winds, heavy rain and dangerous storm surges to the region.
Operations resumed on Thursday morning, with all three runways back in service and more than a thousand flights scheduled in the days following the storm, however some disruption is expected as schedules return to normal.
“We put safety as our primary consideration so we make sure that our customers are safe, our people are safe, and our planes are safe,” said Lam, who as group CEO is responsible for Cathay Pacific, Cathay Cargo and low-cost arm HK Express.
“In the last few days, we made the decision, an early decision, to cancel more than 500 flights so that we ensure that our customers stay safe.”
He stressed that the airline is focused on resuming operations in a controlled and structured way.
“Today is the recovery day. We have to make sure that we have a very orderly recovery. So far so good. Since early this morning (Thursday) we have been recovering pretty well. This really showcased the agility and flexibility we have in Hong Kong in facing this kind of inclement weather.”
Risk from extreme weather is growing
Lam noted that Cathay has been preparing for increasingly frequent weather events by investing in digital tools and automation. “Inclement weather is more prevalent worldwide, and Hong Kong is no exception to this trend, and therefore we are well prepared in many ways.
“We make sure that we handle everything in a digital way; digital innovation is really important, making sure that for our flight schedule planning, we can use AI to plan different scenarios, so that we have the best options in terms of canceling and recovering flights.
“In terms of customer experience, we also use automation so that our customers will be notified of the cancellation on a digital basis, so that we can handle a massive number of passengers within a very short period.”
