Asian carriers hiring in late 2026: Cathay, SIA, Korean Air, JAL, ANA, Vietnam Airlines and the regional low cost carriers, from crew on the ground
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#1 Cathay, and the hiring news thread on here is UK, Europe and Gulf heavy, which reflects the forum. Here is the Asian picture as of this month from crew at the airlines and from the applicant groups, in the same format as Paul's thread: what is actually running, not what the pages say. Add your airline below with the date.
Cathay Pacific
Hiring steadily since the rebuild, Hong Kong residents primarily with regional language hires from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Assessment days at Cathay City most months. Courses monthly. Realistic application to first flight: five months. Confirmed by the new joiners on my last four flights.
Singapore Airlines
Walk ins in Singapore regularly, regional sessions in KL, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok and India on a rolling basis. Courses starting frequently, four months long. The Malaysian and Indonesian crew on this forum confirm the sessions are real and large.
Korean Air and Asiana
Smaller and rarer rounds during the merger integration, as the Korean thread explains. Foreign language crew postings for Chinese and Japanese speakers occasionally. Korean applicants are increasingly looking at the Gulf and SIA as the domestic rounds thin.
JAL and ANA
Recruiting Japanese nationals in the usual annual rounds, with the foreign language postings (English speakers for some routes, occasionally other languages) appearing irregularly. The Japanese crew on this forum say the rounds are stable and competitive.
Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet
Both recruiting Vietnamese nationals in regular rounds, Vietjet in larger numbers. The Vietnamese thread has the details.
Thai Airways
Recruiting Thai nationals after its restructuring, in rounds that the Thai applicant groups say are competitive and real.
AirAsia, Cebu Pacific, Scoot, Jetstar Asia and the regional low cost carriers
All recruiting nationals in their home markets in volume. AirAsia in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Cebu Pacific in the Philippines. Scoot in Singapore. These are the entry doors in the region and they are open.
Air India and IndiGo
Both recruiting heavily in India as the fleets grow. IndiGo in large batches through ifly. Air India rebuilding its cabin crew numbers with regular rounds. The Indian crew here confirm.
The Gulf events in Asia
Emirates, Qatar and Etihad continue to hold events in Manila, Cebu, Bangkok, KL, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and elsewhere. The Manila and Mumbai threads have the current descriptions. These remain the largest single source of Asian cabin crew hires.
Quieter than the pages suggest
Korean Air (the merger), and a couple of the smaller regional carriers whose pages are open and whose courses are not running. Crew from those airlines can say so below if they want to.
Reply with your airline, what you have seen, and the date. Asia deserves the same thread as Europe.
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#2 SIA, this month: walk ins in Singapore every few weeks, a KL session last month that the Malaysian crew described as 350 strong, courses starting on a rolling basis. Confirmed.
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#3 IndiGo Bangalore, this month: ifly batches of 50 plus starting continuously, the base growing for the new aircraft. Air India rounds confirmed by friends who joined in the last quarter.
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#4 Korean Air, this month: one domestic round this year so far, smaller than previous years, as the merger integration continues. The applicant groups are looking abroad. Confirmed and fair.
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#5 Qatar, Bangkok events: two this quarter that produced courses, per the Thai new joiners in my building. Thai Airways rounds also confirmed by friends at home.
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#6 Thank you all. This is the thread now. Add as it changes.