Cathay Pacific delays delivery of four Airbus planes and speeds up cull of older jets but will not ground aircraft or offer unpaid leave for now as it battles Hong Kong protest fallout

Cathay Pacific will not ground planes or offer unpaid leave to staff for now although it has deferred the delivery of four Airbus aircraft and will retire an extra two planes in 2020, the company has told analysts, as civil unrest in Hong Kong saps demand for air travel.

The city’s flagship carrier said Cathay Dragon would take delivery of three fewer planes and one fewer aircraft would be inducted into low-cost carrier HK Express’s fleet. Cathay Pacific and its regional airline, Cathay Dragon, are to retire an extra aircraft each, as part of substantive changes to ride out the impact of the city’s protests. In total, the group will add 17 new aircraft and retire 10 next year.

The wider business plan showcased to financial analysts may prove out of date and deeper changes may be needed, according to people in the room, because parts of the company’s presentation did not factor in the turmoil in the city this week.

The reshuffle of aircraft took place after the airline issued a second profit warning in less than a month on Wednesday, and said profits in the second half of the year would be “significantly below” those of the first, while the short-term outlook was “challenging and uncertain”.

However, company executives said the wider business impact from the ongoing five months of anti-government protest was not as bad compared to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in 2003.