CATHAY PAC AIR (00293) Lin Shaobo: The fourth quarter is another peak in travel and exports, maintaining optimism for the full year performance.

On November 15th, Cathay Pacific Airways (00293) CEO Lin Shaobo stated that for the Hong Kong-based airline, the fourth quarter is another peak travel season benefiting from Christmas and New Year in December. Additionally, the fourth quarter is also the peak season for exports and the freight business, driven by cross-border e-commerce. Therefore, the company has a positive outlook for its performance for the whole year. Lin Shaobo pointed out that in the third quarter of this year, the performance of the passenger and cargo transportation business met expectations, thanks to the peak travel season during the summer and the surge in travel demand during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, as well as the start of the new academic year for students studying abroad. Cathay Pacific is prepared for the upcoming Christmas and New Year peak season and will strive to increase passenger capacity to provide customers with more choices and flexibility when feasible. The current market supply and demand have not fully normalized yet and aviation resources are very scarce. Passengers have increasingly diverse, personalized, and high-quality demands for products and services, and the strong travel demand also benefits airlines. Given the long aviation investment cycle, it is crucial to seize the time to invest in the future passenger experience. In addition, Lin Shaobo stated that the Chinese aviation market remains the world's most promising market with strong vitality, including the aviation market in the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. Rebuilding the network is Cathay Pacific Airways' top priority this year, with mainland China being a key market for the airline. Currently, Cathay Pacific Airways offers over 180 weekly flights to 17 destinations in 16 Chinese cities, including 7 weekly flights between Ningbo and Hong Kong operated by Hong Kong Express. Lin Shaobo expressed the hope of surpassing the previous level of 300 round trips between Hong Kong and mainland China per week soon. Currently, the recovery is still in progress. Among them, the Shanghai route has 9 weekly round trips at Hongqiao Airport, reaching pre-pandemic levels, and there are 6 daily round trips at Pudong Airport, with further increases planned in the future. The Greater Bay Area is one of Cathay Pacific Airways' key strategic focuses for development.