Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific Airways announced it will extend its reduced passenger-flight schedule of 3 percent of services through June 20, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hit travel demand globally.
However, the airline plans to add passenger flights from June 21-30, which would increase the operating capacity in June to about 5 percent across the passenger network, according to an online statement that Cathay Pacific released on Tuesday.
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Cathay Pacific hopes to increase long-haul weekly passenger flights and bring back some Asian cities such as Osaka, Seoul and Delhi to its flight schedule in late June
Cathay Pacific hopes to increase long-haul weekly passenger flights and bring back some Asian cities such as Osaka, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Delhi, India, to its flight schedule in late June. Daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai will be operated by Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon, a regional airline of Cathay Pacific Group.
Cathay Pacific in mid-April reportedly laid off over 200 employees in the United States and closed its cabin crew bases there. Currently, the airline group has cabin crew bases in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The airline group saw the number of total passengers carried in March fell 90 percent compared with the previous year. As of early April, Cathay Pacific had slashed 97 percent of its flights and reduced its long-haul flights.
To help the city’s aviation sector ride out the storm, the Hong Kong SAR government has included subsidies to support the aviation sector in its pandemic-related HK$138 billion ($17.8 billion) relief package. The government will provide financial relief tied to the city’s 270 aircraft. A one-time subsidy of HK$1 million will be provided to airlines for every large aircraft registered in Hong Kong and HK$200,000 for each small aircraft.
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Hong Kong’s aviation industry may shrink HK$65.2 billion throughout this year, according to Bocom International, a subsidiary of Bank of Communications. The report estimated that Hong Kong International Airport’s passenger revenue will drop HK$65.2 billion year-on-year in the first half 2020 if the airport reports over 75 percent drop of passenger volume.
In March, the passenger traffic at the Hong Kong airport slumped 91 percent year-on-year, with only 576,000 passengers passing through the airport.
The ongoing pandemic took a heavy toll on airlines globally, with travel bans enacted in most countries aiming to keep the virus at the bay.
Boeing CEO David Calhoun said at the company’s annual meeting on Monday that it may take more than three years for air traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels.
