The move comes following the Hong Kong government’s decision to remove the Amber Code restrictions under the Vaccine Pass for inbound passengers.

The airline said the adjustments will help "further boost sentiment" for travel, especially among inbound visitors, thereby aiding the resumption of travel from its Hong Kong hub.

Chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam said: "As we approach the festive Christmas and New Year holiday period, travel demand continues to improve.

"We are further increasing our passenger flight capacity and resuming more destinations, including Sapporo, Fukuoka, Penang and Dhaka in December, as well as Phuket and Nagoya in January next year."

Lam predicted short-haul routes to leisure destinations such as Japan and Southeast Asia will remain strong and will continue into the Chinese New Year holiday peak.

"Sentiment and demand for travel out of Hong Kong continued to improve in November," Lam added.

"We also saw increased visiting friends and relatives traffic into Hong Kong, particularly from long-haul origins such as North America, Europe and the South West Pacific."

The airline carried around 17,600 passengers a day in November, up from around 13,000 in October, and passenger flight capacity increased by 16% versus the previous month.