Cathay Pacific cuts back sharply on its winter schedule

It was a predictable development. Hong Kong, mired in demonstrations and violence for 14 weeks nowis being abandoned by business travellers and tourists alike. A situation which is now affecting airlines, first and foremost the carrier Cathay Pacific. According to information provided by the company, Cathay has seen its passenger traffic down 11% in August, when the often violent demonstrations against the government frightened off visitors, despite the fact that August is one of the busiest months in terms of travel. Visit closure of Hong Kong airporttwo days, had affected 55,000 customers of Cathay. The company fears a similar effect in September.

While outbound traffic from Hong Kong was down by 12%, it was inbound passenger volumes that the airline was most affected. The number of inbound passengers literally collapsed, plunging 38% compared with August 2018 figures.

An extremely complicated month for Cathay and Hong Kong

According to the carrier, " August was an extremely difficult month for Cathay and Hong Kong, with arrivals in the territory down by almost 50% compared with normal levels. Demand for business class travel, which generates a higher proportion of Cathay Pacific's revenues than economy class, fell even more significantly. "said Ronald Lam Siu-por, Chief Customer and Commercial Officer of Cathay Pacific Group.

In total, these are 370,000 fewer passengers that Cathay Pacific recorded on its routes, i.e. the biggest fall in ten years with a total of 2.9 million passengers. The load factor fell symbolically below the 80% mark, to exactly 79.9%: a drop of more than seven points.

The sectors hardest hit were Asia and China. In North-East Asia, passenger numbers fell by 11.8%, and in China by almost 29%. In China, the boycott of the airline has added to the negative impact of the demonstrations. Cathay's management had initially stated its support for its employees' freedom of thought, before withdrawing its support. backtrack and impose sanctions. In South-East Asia, the fall was 8%. In Europe, on the other hand, passenger traffic rose by 3%, with many passengers simply transferring to Hong Kong.

The company has therefore taken action. It will considerably reduce its winter programme. Instead of a 3% increase in capacity, as originally planned, we are now talking about a 6% decrease around the world.

All sectors are affected by capacity reductions. According to OAGAt the end of October, the carrier will cease operations on its Dublin and Medan (Indonesia) routes and eliminate certain frequencies in Europe, in particular on Frankfurt but also Paris-CDG. The two European metropolises are losing their daytime flights, leaving only their night flights, which are more attractive to the public. business customers. In Paris, this means three fewer flights a week.

The company and its regional subsidiary Cathay Dragon are also reducing their flight frequencies to Tokyo-Haneda, Beijing, New York, Vancouver and Washington. But experts believe that further service cuts are likely to follow, particularly to and from China, in response to a boycott of the Hong Kong airline that shows little sign of abating for the time being.