Cathay Pacific shift urged

Cathay Pacific is being urged by analysts to widen its customer base in a bid to return to profitability. With the company expected to announce another loss this week, Cathay Pacific needs to shift strategy from being the region’s top airline for premium fliers and make a bigger effort to woo some of the millions of mainland leisure travellers who have enriched its state-owned rivals in China, analysts say.

The airline is expected to report a loss of HK$1.2bn (€130m) for the six months to the end of June tomorrow.

That would potentially put Cathay on course for the first back-to-back annual losses in its 70-year history. The Hong Kong company last month warned of a disappointing first-half.