The colours of the Cathay Pacific will soon be back on display at Paris CDG. The company has announced the resumption of flights between Hong Kong and the French capital from 1 August. But this return, after an 18-month absence, remains highly symbolic. The Chinese carrier will operate just one rotation a week with an Airbus A350 configured in three classes of travel (Business, Premium Economy and Economy). The flight from Paris will take off every Monday.
The decision was taken at a time when Hong Kong introduced a slightly less strict quarantine on 30 June. Yet France, like most other EU countries and Switzerland, is still considered a high-risk country.
As a result, people who had already been vaccinated saw quarantine reduced from 21 to 14 days. People travelling to China in this way must book in advance. 14 nights' hotel accommodation quarantine. And undergo two PCR tests during this restricted stay. Only Hong Kong residents benefit from a quarantine period of just 7 days. These measures remain a major deterrent for most foreigners.
But that hasn't stopped Cathay Pacific from showing a little more optimism. Chief Commercial Officer Ronald Lam has indicated that the carrier will once again be offering 20% of its capacities pre-COVID on 1 August. This compares with 9% in June and 3.55 in May. He predicts that by fourth quarterCathay could even offer 30% of its pre-Covid air capacity. While this is indeed a real improvement, it is likely to have only a limited positive effect on European demand. And it is no longer just a question of covid...
