Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways is planning to expand its work force by 10 percent this year, the airline's CEO said on Tuesday.
Cathay, which has 15,000 employees, will hire 1,500 more people this year, including pilots and flight attendants, Philip Chen, the firm's new chief executive told reporters. Of the new hires, about 1,100 jobs will be Hong Kong-based.
Separately, Chen said it was too early to gauge how hard the airline's business would be hit by the tsunami catastrophe that struck many coastal areas in South Asia. Cathay does not operate flights to Phuket in Thailand, one of the most badly affected tourist areas to be hit by the disaster.
"I won't say there's no impact," Chen said. "But we'll have to wait until people in the United States and Europe return to their offices after the holiday to see how bookings are affected."
