Recent moves to relax some of Hong Kong's strict travel rules have certainly helped the airline but this is still not enough to provide the scale of recovery the carrier desperately needs.
The air travel bubble (ATB) connecting Singapore (SIN) and Hong Kong (HKG) will finally open on May 26, nearly six months after the initial launch was postponed after cases surged in the Chinese special administrative region.
The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) is now requiring Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific to file its U.S. flight schedules with the agency so it can determine if the company’s operations are creating adverse conditions.
Cathay Pacific is engaged in talks with the Hong Kong government to remove onerous crew quarantine requirements that have severely disrupted the carrier’s operations.
Cathay Pacific will suspend a range of routes because of strict new quarantine rules for crew, dealing a further blow to a network already severely diminished by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cathay Pacific has announced a new convertible bond issue that will raise HK$6.7 billion ($870 million), giving it an additional financial buffer as the business environment becomes even more challenging.
Cathay Pacific says the Hong Kong government’s plan to impose quarantines on airline crew would force the carrier to cut back capacity and also significantly raise its cash burn.
The opening of a highly anticipated air travel bubble between Singapore (SIN) and Hong Kong (HKG) was deferred by two weeks, a day before the first ATB flight was set to depart on Nov. 22.
Almost all of Cathay Pacific’s eligible pilots and cabin crew have accepted the revised contract terms that are a key part of the Hong Kong airline’s cost restructuring efforts.
Greater Bay Airlines, a new Hong Kong-based venture by Chinese billionaire Wong Cho-bau, is reportedly willing to take in former Cathay Pacific Group staff members as it waits for its air operator certificate.
Southeast Asia’s airline industry is being shaken up by a wave of restructuring programs prompted by the COVID-19 crisis, with most of the region’s flag-carriers looking to downsize to survive.
Cathay Pacific is confident its latest restructuring moves—including major workforce cuts and axing the Cathay Dragon brand—will allow it to reduce costs sufficiently to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
Cathay Pacific predicts that its passenger capacity will still be less than half pre-COVID-19 levels in 2021, even assuming best-case outcomes prevail.
Vice presidents and heads of network planning teams have registered for the event that will support the community in reshaping the world’s route networks.
The continued bleak outlook in the international market underlines the need for Cathay Pacific to undertake significant long-term changes, according to a senior executive at the airline.
