Hong Kong airline companies slash flights due to COVID-19 pandemic

Hong Kong-based airline company Cathay Pacific announced on Friday the reduction of its passenger capacity by 96 percent in the coming months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while low-fare airline HK Express announced the temporary suspension of all its flight operations from March 23 to April 30.

Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Cathay Dragon will reduce capacity by 96 percent across their passenger network in April and May in light of the severe drop in demand due to the ongoing pandemic and multiple government travel restrictions that form part of the global health response plan, the company said.

"As previously announced, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon intend to operate a bare skeleton passenger flight schedule in April and May, though our freighter capacity remains intact," the company said, adding that the airlines' ability to maintain even this skeleton schedule will depend on whether more travel restrictions are imposed by the governments around the world, which will further dampen passenger demand.

"We need to take difficult but decisive measures as the scale of the challenge facing the global aviation industry is unprecedented. We have no choice but to significantly reduce our passenger capacity as travel restrictions are making it increasingly difficult for our customers to travel and demand has dropped drastically," said Cathay Pacific Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam.

Cathay Pacific will operate three flights per week to 12 destinations, including London, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tokyo, Taipei, New Delhi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Sydney.

Cathay Dragon will operate three flights per week to three destinations, Beijing, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur.

Lam said: "As Hong Kong's home airlines, it is important that we continue to provide important passenger and cargo connections to and from the Hong Kong hub. We will therefore endeavor to maintain a minimal number of flights to and from key destinations in our network to ensure these vital arteries remain open."

HK Express said it will suspend all flight operations on a short-term basis starting from March 23 until April 30, in light of the significant drop in travel demand as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and growing travel restrictions imposed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government as well as various governments across Asia.

The airline is looking into resuming flight operations on May 1 and closely monitoring the development of the situation, it said.

"This is a decision we have not taken lightly. Unfortunately, it is now essential in order to ensure we see ourselves through this extremely difficult period. Given all the challenges we have been facing, preserving our cash position is key to make sure we stay together as team," HK Express CEO Mandy Ng said.

As of Friday, HK Express has already canceled about 2,000 flight sectors, covering 23 out of its 25 routes across Asia.

In light of the upcoming temporary suspension of flight operations, HK Express is bringing forward leave plans for crew by reallocating leave originally assigned in the second half of the year to the period between April and June, so as to reserve manpower when demand returns.

The company has also taken a number of measures to help it preserve cash, including cost containment, recruitment suspension, supplier management and the implementation of the Special No Pay Leave Scheme to mitigate the financial impact of the situation on the company.

According to the CEO, more than 96 percent of the company's staff are participating in the Special No Pay Leave Scheme.