Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines CEO plans to step down by April

Hong Kong carrier Greater Bay Airlines Co.’s Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui is preparing to step down, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hui, 73, may resign from his role as early as next month and the airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Liza Ng, is the front-runner to be appointed as the new CEO, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Ng, a former Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. senior executive, has held her current post at Greater Bay Airlines since June 1 last year. If she takes the role, she would become the carrier’s first female CEO, and third overall, since its founding in 2020.

Hui declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. A representative for Greater Bay Airlines also declined to comment.

A veteran aviation executive, Hui has been in the industry for almost five decades and has served as Greater Bay’s CEO since June 2022, including steering it through its inaugural passenger flight in July of that year. He previously held the top job at defunct carrier Dragonair and at Hong Kong’s Airport Authority, and was a non-executive director at Air China Ltd.

Greater Bay, which positions itself as a “value carrier” between the full service and low-cost segments, has a fleet of seven Boeing Co. 737 current-generation aircraft. It flies short-haul routes across North and Southeast Asia, servicing several major metropolitan cities.

The airline has ordered 15 737-9 Max jets and committed to buying five 787 Dreamliner long-range jets as part of its long-term expansion goal. The carrier was founded by Chinese property magnate Bill Wong, who also owns Shenzhen-based Donghai Airlines Co.