ANNUAL REPORT Cathay Pacific Airways Limited Stock Code: 293 CONTENTS MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 3 Financial and Operational Highlights 5 Chairman’s Statement 9 Review of Operations 23 Financial Review 31 Sustainable Development Review CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 34 Directors and Officers 36 Directors’ Report 43 Corporate Governance Report FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 59 Independent Auditor’s Report 65 Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income 66 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 67 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 68 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 69 Notes to the Financial Statements 121 Principal Subsidiaries and Associates 123 Principal Accounting Policies 134 Statistics 139 Glossary 140 Corporate and Shareholder Information 140 Disclaimer A Chinese translation of this Annual Report is available upon request from the Company’s Registrars. 本年報的中文譯本於本公司的股份登記處備索。 Cathay Pacific Airways Limited Cathay Pacific Airways Limited Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (“Cathay Pacific”), with its subsidiaries Hong Kong Express Airways Limited (“HK Express”) and AHK Air Hong Kong Limited (“Air Hong Kong”), had 239 aircraft at the end of 2020 of which 92 were held at parking locations outside of Hong Kong. Immediately prior to the onset of COVID-19, our airlines directly connected Hong Kong to 119 destinations in 35 countries worldwide (255 and 54 respectively with codeshare agreements), including 26 destinations in the Chinese mainland. According to IATA’s 2019 World Air Transport Statistics, the Cathay Pacific Group was the world’s eighth-largest carrier of international passengers, and the third-largest carrier of international air cargo. Cathay Pacific was founded in Hong Kong in 1946. It has been deeply committed to its home base over the past seven decades and remains so, making substantial investments to develop Hong Kong as one of the world’s leading international aviation centres. Cathay Pacific itself had 199 passenger and cargo aircraft at the end of 2020. The Group’s other investments include its catering, laundry, ground-handling and cargo terminal companies, and its corporate headquarters at Hong Kong International Airport. HK Express, a low-cost airline based in Hong Kong offering scheduled services within Asia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific and had 28 aircraft at the end of 2020. Air Hong Kong, an express all-cargo carrier offering scheduled services in Asia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific operating 12 aircraft at the end of 2020. Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (“Cathay Dragon”), a regional full-service airline that was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, ceased operations on 21st October 2020. Cathay Pacific owns 18.13% of Air China Limited (“Air China”), the national flag carrier and a leading provider of passenger, cargo and other airline-related services in the Chinese mainland. The Group continues to invest in its home city albeit, as a result of the pandemic, at the end of 2020, it had or was in negotiations to defer 60 new aircraft deliveries. At the end of 2020, Cathay Pacific and its subsidiaries employed more than 25,600 people worldwide, of whom around 20,800 are employed in Hong Kong. Shares of Cathay Pacific are listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, as are the shares of its substantial shareholders Swire Pacific Limited (“Swire Pacific”) and Air China. Cathay Pacific is a founding member of the oneworld global alliance, whose combined network serves more than 1,000 destinations worldwide. 2 Annual Report 2020 FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS GROUP FINANCIAL STATISTICS 2020 2019 Change Results Revenue HK$ million 46,934 106,973 -56.1% (Loss)/profit attributable to the shareholders of Cathay Pacific HK$ million (21,648) 1,691 -23,339 (Loss)/earnings per ordinary share HK cents (424.3) 39.1 -463.4 Dividend per ordinary share HK$ – 0.18 -100.0% (Loss)/profit margin % (46.1) 1.6 -47.7%pt Financial position Funds attributable to the shareholders of Cathay Pacific HK$ million 73,257 62,773 +16.7% Net borrowings* HK$ million 73,788 82,396 -10.4% Shareholders’ funds per ordinary share HK$ 11.4 16.0 -28.8% Ordinary shareholders’ funds per ordinary share *** HK$ 8.3 16.0 -48.1% Net debt/equity ratio* Times 1.01 1.31 -0.3 times OPERATING STATISTICS – CATHAY PACIFIC AND CATHAY DRAGON 2020 2019 Change Available tonne kilometres (“ATK”) Million 14,620 33,077 -55.8% Available seat kilometres (“ASK”) Million 34,609 163,244 -78.8% Available cargo tonne kilometres (“AFTK”) Million 11,329 17,558 -35.5% Revenue tonne kilometres (“RTK”) Million 10,220 24,090 -57.6% Passenger revenue per ASK HK cents 32.7 44.2 -26.0% Revenue passenger kilometres (“RPK”) Million 20,079 134,397 -85.1% Revenue passengers carried ‘000 4,631 35,233 -86.9% Passenger load factor % 58.0 82.3 -24.3%pt Passenger yield HK cents 56.3 53.7 +4.8% Cargo revenue per AFTK HK$ 2.17 1.20 +80.8% Cargo revenue tonne kilometres (“RFTK”) Million 8,309 11,311 -26.5% Cargo carried ‘000 tonnes 1,332 2,022 -34.1% Cargo load factor % 73.3 64.4 +8.9%pt Cargo yield HK$ 2.96 1.87 +58.3% Cost per ATK (with fuel) HK$ 4.14 3.06 +35.3% Fuel consumption per million RTK Barrels 1,708 1,867 -8.5% Fuel consumption per million ATK Barrels 1,195 1,360 -12.1% Cost per ATK (without fuel) HK$ 3.41 2.19 +55.7% Underlying** cost per ATK (without fuel) HK$ 3.09 2.19 +41.1% ATK per HK$’000 staff cost Unit 1,074 1,879 -42.8% ATK per staff ‘000 752 1,256 -40.1% Aircraft utilisation (including parked aircraft) Hours per day 4.3 11.9 -63.9% On-time performance % 86.7 76.3 +10.4%pt Average age of fleet Years 10.1 10.3 -0.2 years GHG emissions Million tonnes of CO2e 7.0 18.0 -61.1% GHG emissions per ATK Grammes of CO2e 480 545 -11.9% Lost time injury rate Number of injuries per 100 2.28 5.33 -57.2% full-time equivalent employees * Net borrowings and the net debt/equity ratio excluding leases without asset transfer components are HK$54,698 million and 0.75 respectively. Further details can be found in note 11 to the financial statements. ** Underlying costs exclude exceptional items, restructuring, impairment and related charges and are adjusted for the effect of foreign currency movements. *** Ordinary shareholders’ funds are arrived at after deducting preference share capital and unpaid cumulative dividends attributable to the preference shareholder as at 31st December of the respective reporting period. 3 CUSTOMER CENTRIC We treat every customer’s journey as their most important, continually enhancing their experiences both on the ground and in the air. Annual Report 2020 CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT The Cathay Pacific Group experienced the most challenging Cathay Dragon operations by the end of 2020. Additionally, 12 months of its more than 70-year history in 2020. we asked our Hong Kong-based pilots and cabin crew to COVID-19, and the resultant travel restrictions and transition onto new competitive conditions of service. We quarantine requirements in place around the world, brought sincerely thank the 98.5% of pilots and 91.6% of cabin crew about an unprecedented disruption of the global air travel who accepted the new contracts. market and the repercussions have been huge. The The cost of the restructuring was about HK$2.4 billion. It is International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that saving about HK$500 million per month. This reduced global passenger traffic will not return to pre-COVID-19 monthly cash burn from HK$1.5-2.0 billion to HK$1.0- levels until 2024. 1.5 billion. The Cathay Pacific Group’s attributable loss was HK$21,648 million in 2020 (2019: profit of HK$1,691 million). The loss BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF CATHAY per ordinary share in 2020 was HK424.3 cents (2019: PACIFIC AND CATHAY DRAGON earnings per ordinary share of HK39.1 cents). The Group’s attributable loss was HK$11,783 million in the second half of Since the onset of the pandemic, our passenger revenues 2020 (2020 first half: loss of HK$9,865 million; 2019 second in 2020 declined to only 2-3% of 2019 levels. With demand half: profit of HK$344 million). Cathay Pacific and Cathay at an all-time low, we drastically reduced our passenger Dragon reported an attributable loss of HK$10,032 million in schedule to just a bare skeleton and our operating capacity the second half of 2020 (2020 first half: loss of HK$7,361 remained below 10% for much of 2020. We saw occasional million; 2019 second half: loss of HK$434 million). pockets of demand, notably in the summer season with student travel from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to The loss for 2020 is net of the receipt of HK$2,689 million of the UK and other destinations in Europe. Nonetheless, the COVID-19-related government grants globally and includes 2020 summer season, which is usually our peak period of impairment and related charges of HK$4,056 million relating the year, was incredibly difficult. to 34 aircraft that are unlikely to re-enter meaningful economic service again before they retire or are returned to Passenger revenue in 2020 was HK$11,313 million, a lessors and to certain airline service subsidiaries’ assets decrease of 84.3% compared to 2019. Revenue passenger and HK$3,973 million of restructuring costs inclusive of a kilometre (RPK) traffic decreased by 85.1%, while available HK$1,590 million write off of a deferred tax asset at seat kilometre (ASK) capacity decreased by 78.8%.