HK Express, CEO, Jeanette Mao at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia 2026

Transcript

Jeanette Mao:For HK Express, we are a Hong Kong-based, Asia-focused, young and fast-growing low-cost carrier. So currently we operate at 43 aircraft, 35 destinations across Asia. And over the next 3 years, we are moving towards another milestone with 50 aircraft and 50 destinations. And not just scale, we are trying to deliver sustained profitable growth as well and built around value, around customer choices as well as operational reliability. I think definitely Hong Kong gives us the geographical advantage as one of the most connected international aviation hubs in the world. And also beyond Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area is actually— we see a fast-growing potential in the future. Not just population-wise with 90 million population. And also the attractive part is they have relatively young demographics compared to Hong Kong. And we have around one-third of the customers coming from the Greater Bay Area and 60% of them are between age 21 to 39. This young group of people, customers, they are often the group that travel more often, have strong affinity about the LCC model as well as more digitally engaged. So we see a high potential of this Greater Bay Area for the future growth. As part of the dual brand strategy of the group, Cathay Pacific focuses on the premium full service and for us focuses on the value-conscious short-haul leisure customers. So the beauty of the dual brand strategy is really that the network complements each other and we ride on the synergy between the 2 airline brands. But still keep the distinct brand proposition, distinct customer proposition, and make sure we maximise both the ends. And also it provides a broader market, broader customer base, and higher growth opportunity for both brands and for the group as well. To us, to stay true to the LCC DNA is very important. The simplicity, the agility, the efficiency is deeply rooted in our DNA. Although the scale is becoming bigger, but we constantly remind ourselves and make sure we continue to stick to these LCC DNA, and these are critical to the future success. And we are not trying to build a small-scale full-service carrier within the CASI Group. We have distinctive brand, we have distinctive proposition. That's why we exist and why we have the strategic value delivered to the whole group. I think firstly, great pleasure to be here. to join the CAPA Airline Leader Summit. To me, it's really a great forum to exchange views with the other airline leaders in the industry, not just LCC, but also, I mean, the other airlines as well as airports as well as other suppliers. I mean, nowadays the whole industry, I think you also mentioned earlier in the Berlin CAPA, that disruption is no longer an exception, right? The whole industry full of volatility and uncertainty, so having such a forum for us to exchange views, to share insights, will be great and a privileged opportunity. I'm looking forward to joining more of CAPA and to looking forward to sharing more from HK Express' success in the future.

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