HONG KONG: Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific on Wednesday posted a loss of US$703 million for last year, a massive improvement on the record US$2.76 billion suffered in 2020 even as the airline struggled with continued travel restrictions.

Chairman Patrick Healy said the company “continued to face serious challenges” and the overall loss for the year was “substantial” despite a considerable improvement in the second half.

Cathay’s result was a vast improvement from its record losses of HK$21.6 billion ($2.8 billion) in 2020, which Healey described as the “most challenging” year in the airline’s seven-decade history.

The airline recorded an attributable loss of $703 million for the full year, recovering ground in the second half of the year with a $256 million attributable profit.

“The exceptional performance of our cargo business, especially during the second-half peak season, was extremely encouraging,” Healy said.

The average estimate from analysts tracked by Bloomberg was for an annual loss of HK$9.8 billion.

Cathay also beat its own forecast in January when it expected a net loss of between HK$5.6 billion and HK$6.1 billion.