Air Canada strike hits thousands

Thousands of passengers, including Hong Kong students returning to school and college in Canada, face disruption from a second transpacific airline strike.

Flights to Vancouver were cancelled as Air Canada pilots went on strike yesterday, adding to problems caused by industrial action by Northwest Airlines flight crew.

Some travel agents predict passengers may be stuck in Hong Kong until next week, thanks to a combination of the strike action and heavy end-of-holiday bookings.

It is understood that most flights to Canada, including services on Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Air Lines and Korean Air, are fully booked and seats will not be available until next week.

'Flights are cancelled until we are able to negotiate a settlement and we can get the pilots back to work,' said Priscille LeBlanc, Air Canada's director of corporate communications.

The airline had made arrangements with 15 other carriers to accept its passengers in the event of a strike, she said. However, many airlines were already fully booked.

Air Canada has four round-trip flights between Hong Kong and Vancouver each week, which can carry more than 2,000 passengers. Vancouver-based travel agent Wong Kam-wai said getting from Hong Kong to Canada would be difficult although some seats were still available on the return leg.