Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines aims to land staff from mainland China, tap affiliated carrier to ensure expansion plans fly
- Chief executive Stanley Hui says carrier will tap into resources at Shenzhen-based Donghai Airlines and get eight or nine pilots to begin with
- But he warns Hong Kong needs to do more to recruit overseas pilots to ensure city’s flying community remains international
Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines will tap mainland China’s talent pool and take on nearly 10 pilots from an affiliated carrier while aiming to hire more than 100 staff next year to help with its expansion plans.
But company chief executive Stanley Hui Hon-chung warned on Wednesday that Hong Kong needed to do more to recruit overseas pilots to keep the city’s flying community international.
Hui said the carrier would leverage resources at Shenzhen-based Donghai Airlines, owned by GBA’s principal shareholder and chairman Bill Wong Cho-bau, including hiring experienced first officers.
As the airline was looking to cooperate with the wider Greater Bay Area it had also started to recruit cabin crew in Shenzhen, he added.
The bay area refers to Beijing’s initiative to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities into an economic powerhouse.
Property tycoon Wong has pledged to invest HK$2 billion (US$258 million) in the new airline.
“We are getting eight or nine [first officers] to begin with, but as we go forward, there’ll be more opportunities for us to tap into their resources and that will, of course, help us to develop hopefully faster,” he said.
