Hong Kong Airlines is revving up its hiring engine with a plan to return to pre-pandemic capacity by mid-2024. 

The airline has set its sights on attaining 75% hiring capacity of pre-Covid time by the end of this year and aims to reach 100% capacity by mid-2024. This comes after the airline increased its operations by 30% this month.

Chairman Hou Wei said in a statement, "We have leveraged every travel recovery opportunity over the past few months amidst unprecedented pent-up demand, and we continue to see positive business growth, particularly from the Japanese markets."

To support the hiring spree, the airline is raising basic pay by 8% and flying hourly rates for the crew by up to 10%. Ground staff will also receive a 5% basic salary pay rise. 

The airline plans to hire 1,000 new employees by the end of 2023, bringing the workforce back to 60-70% of pre-Covid levels. This includes 120 pilots, 500 cabin crew, and 380 ground staff.