Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Philip Chen shared his views with a large audience of Canadian businesspeople on the positive developments in Hong Kong since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1997, with particular reference to the growth of the city's aviation sector.

Mr. Chen was speaking at a lunch gathering hosted by the Vancouver Board of Trade on June 5. During his Vancouver trip he is also attending the World Air Transport Summit organised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and a meeting of the oneworld Governing Board.

Mr. Chen said that since 1997, when the HKSAR was established, Cathay Pacific had embarked on an ambitious growth plan driven by a desire to further build and strengthen Hong Kong's position as one of the world's leading aviation hubs, in turn boosting the city's economic development.

Highlighting the significant growth in Hong Kong's hub operation, Mr. Chen explained that passenger traffic at Hong Kong International Airport reached 44.45 million in 2006 compared with 28.3 million in 1997 while cargo carried doubled to almost 3.6 million tonnes.

At Cathay Pacific, the airline has seen its fleet size grow from 59 to 150, including the aircraft of its subsidiaries Dragonair and Air Hong Kong, while its turnover rose from HK$30 billion in 1997 to HK$60 billion in 2006.

"Looking back over the past 10 years, Cathay Pacific's expansion and business strategy has been to build and strengthen Hong Kong as a global aviation hub," said Mr. Chen. "The success of Hong Kong is clear to see and I believe we can expect even greater things in the future, which makes us believe we are moving in the right direction."

Mr. Chen explained that the airline industry and the community as a whole had faced many challenges over the past decade, including the Asian financial crisis, SARS, the post-911 downturn and the huge rise in fuel prices.

"Unfortunately it's impossible to predict or avoid such crises, but together we made it through a number of tough situations over the past 10 years and emerged stronger than ever. That is why I believe there's a bright future ahead for both Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific."

Describing Hong Kong's close connections to Vancouver, Mr. Chan called it "the de facto sister city of Hong Kong". In 1983 Vancouver was Cathay Pacific's first North America gateway and it was the first airline to launch a non-stop service between the two cities.

Today, Cathay Pacific operates 14 flights weekly from Hong Kong to Vancouver and that number will grow to 17 flights weekly from June 14 through October 28 this year. As a region, North America is now the second largest market for the airline.

Photograph: Cathay Pacific Chief Executive highlighted positive developments in the 10 years of the Hong Kong SAR, with special reference to its growth as an aviation hub, during a lunchtime address organised by the Vancouver Board of Trade.