China has been one of the last countries to see its aviation sector recover fully from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions. However, on 6th June, The Cathay Group reactivated its 85th and final aircraft that had been long-term parked overseas, marking the close of a remarkable chapter in the airline group’s 77-year history and a landmark moment in its rebuild.
After nearly four years of storage in the Australian desert, the Cathay Pacific Airbus A330 (registration B-HLV) was returned to Hong Kong, where it will now undergo an extensive hangar maintenance check. B-HLV was the first of the Cathay Group’s aircraft to go into long-term parking overseas on 28th July 2020, as global air travel came to a near-standstill during the pandemic.
At the height of the pandemic, Cathay Pacific and HK Express had to park the majority of their passenger fleet, which were stored at Hong Kong International Airport and overseas in Alice Springs, Australia and Ciudad Real, Spain. As the pandemic began to subside, Cathay Group commenced the progressive reactivation of these aircraft. This involved the performance of a rigorous series of maintenance checks and inspections to ensure safety and performance.
Cathay Group’s chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan said of the big moment: “Parking and reactivating so many aircraft is a once-in-a-lifetime undertaking, the scale and complexity of which has never been seen before at Cathay. An incredible amount of work goes into keeping an aircraft safe and protected when it isn’t flying, and to then reactivate it for entry back into regular service. To do this for more than 85 aircraft long-term parked overseas, as well as to manage the large number of aircraft that were parked in Hong Kong, is a phenomenal achievement. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department for their invaluable support throughout this process.
“Our teams in Hong Kong and around the world have been instrumental in ensuring our most valuable assets were well looked after, overcoming challenges together with positivity and determination, and embodying Cathay’s ‘can-do’ values. I am immensely proud of their incredible efforts as we reunite our last aircraft from the desert with the rest of our fleet and close a truly remarkable chapter in Cathay’s history.
The return of this A330 marks a major moment in aviation’s post-pandemic recovery. Many other regions of the world have seen their passenger numbers exceed pre-pandemic levels. And Cathay Group is also confident in its growth.
“With our fleet now fully reunited, our focus is firmly on investing for the future,” added McGowan. “The Cathay Group has more than 70 new aircraft on order, with the right to acquire an additional 52 aircraft in the future. We are also exploring options for a new mid-size widebody aircraft. These investments reflect our ongoing confidence in the Hong Kong international aviation hub as we look ahead to the exciting opportunities presented by the Three-Runway System at Hong Kong International Airport when it is fully commissioned by the end of this year.”
A journey from deserts to skies
Bringing a stored aircraft back into service involves much more than an oil change and kicking the tyres. Bob Taylor, Cathay Group’s general manager of engineering operations describes the huge task in hand for B-HLV.
“An aircraft that is in long-term parking requires a defined programme of maintenance checks and inspections that are repeated over a regular cycle to ensure it is preserved in tip-top condition. When it comes to reactivating the aircraft, a rigorous series of checks and inspections must first be accomplished to ensure the aircraft is safe to ferry back from its overseas parking facility. The aircraft then needs to undergo a further series of detailed checks and inspections as part of its scheduled hangar maintenance check,” explained Taylor.
Each aircraft that was long-term parked in Alice Springs underwent a 14-day preservation check when it first arrived, followed by a repeating series of periodic inspections and checks. Over the course of the parking programme in Alice Springs, more than 16,000 of these periodic checks were performed on Cathay’s stored fleet, and a total of 800,000 labour hours were spent performing preservation, periodic and reactivation maintenance.
Furthermore, over 40,000 parts and items of specialised equipment were also shipped from Hong Kong to support the Alice Springs operation. Meanwhile, the Cathay Group’s onsite quality assurance team conducted more than 2,000 audits.
“It was truly a team effort that required the support of many departments within the airline as well as key partners including Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO), Boeing and Airbus, and the local service provider in Alice Springs – Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage (APAS),” added Taylor. “To manage this body of work across an unprecedented number of aircraft was an incredible achievement by the team, of which I am immensely proud.”
