Letters | Cheaper Cathay Pacific fares? Don’t hold your breath
- Readers discuss ticket prices on Hong Kong’s flag carrier, and the criticism of Qantas’ leadership
Many travellers were disappointed that they encountered long wait times and the website crashing while trying to book tickets during the offer, but this was only to be expected considering the massive web traffic that would undoubtedly be caused by people trying to snap up the cheap flights.
Cathay is simply taking advantage of the reignited travel demand to grasp the lifeline it needs to emerge from the pandemic gloom. One can’t blame it for that – it lost more than HK$30 billion during the pandemic, so raising fares is a natural response.
However, it remains to be seen whether it will gradually reduce fares back to pre-pandemic levels, or maintain the heightened fares due to rising labour or fuel costs. We would all like to see reduced fares – the sooner the better – but considering Cathay’s financial predicament, it probably won’t happen any time soon, if at all.