Cathay To Cut More Flights As Passenger Numbers Drop

Cathay Pacific will make further cuts to passenger capacity because of extremely low demand, leaving it with just two flights a week each to four long-haul destinations in April, according to an internal memo issued by the airline.

It will also operate 33 flights to 11 regional destinations.

The airline also said it will be closing its airport lounges across the world, except two in Hong Kong and the one in Shanghai.

The airline carried only 582 passengers one day this week with a load factor of 18.3 percent, which compares to 100,000 customers on a normal day, Cathay chief executive Augustus Tang said in a memo to staff.

The carrier will maintain a skeleton network with two weekly passenger flights from Hong Kong to London, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Sydney and will also try to capitalise on stronger cargo demand, he said.

"However, the reduction of capacity on our wide body fleet means our cargo revenues are still well below last year," Tang said.

Most Cathay employees already agreed to take three weeks of unpaid leave as part of an effort to cut costs.

Tang said further unpaid leave in the form of temporary stand-downs and furloughs were occurring in some regions for ground employees where it had stopped flights or reduced capacity.

He will take a 30 percent cut to his base salary from April to December, as will Chairman Patrick Healy, with executive directors taking a 25 percent cut, the memo said. (Reuters, RTHK)

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