Cathay Pacific on Friday said it aims to recruit 5,000 more staff this year and reach 80 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity in the second quarter.

The city’s flagship carrier said it is most in need of flight attendants and customer service officers including cargo and ground staff.

Patricia Hwang, the airline's Director People, said it would also expand mainland and overseas recruitment to hire more pilots.

“In terms of pilots, right now we have got around 2,900 pilots and we forecast that we need to recruit another 500 to support our rebuild journey and to resume our capacity back to the pre-pandemic level,” she told reporters at a recruitment roadshow event.

“We have got confidence that we will be able to recruit and attract all the pilots that we need to support our rebuild and of course we will not only recruit from Hong Kong, we will also recruit from the Chinese mainland, as well as different overseas countries.”

Hwang added that more than 100 mainland cabin crew members had been trained and are now providing services since Cathay started hiring from across the border last August.

A Cathay Pacific pilot union earlier said the carrier is very short of experienced pilots despite its recruitment expansion, warning it could take years for the airline to recover from the pandemic.

But Nazia, a candidate who applied for a customer service post, expressed confidence in the company's prospects.

"Obviously, Covid-19 was quite an unfortunate event that everyone had to suffer. So I can understand the different pressures on business and different entities. But honestly, looking forward, I think it would be a long term position for me if I do get into Cathay Pacific. I think it's really reasonable for different firms to lay off staff. But I think right now, Cathay Pacific is also doing quite well," she said.

Cathay said it wants to achieve full pre-Covid capacity in the first quarter of next year.