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Hong Kong Airlines fighting to survive as licensing authority calls crisis talks over carrier’s financial woes
- Air Transport Licensing Authority says carrier has been in deep financial trouble for ‘long period of time’ as it hints at taking action
- Officials could revoke HKA’s licence or demand it restructure as condition of continuing to exist
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The future of ailing Hong Kong Airlines hung by a thread as it prepared for crunch talks on Friday with the airline licensing body, with its very existence under threat.
Ahead of the meeting, the struggling carrier announced it was cutting its final long-haul route, to Vancouver, and also axed flights to Ho Chi Minh City and Tianjin.
On Thursday, it was revealed the airline did not have enough money to pay all its 3,500 staff on time in November, and the Air Transport Licensing Authority said the city’s third biggest airline had been in deep financial trouble “for a long period of time”.
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The airline’s accounts are expected to be under the microscope again in the latest meeting between the two sides, almost a month after the government publicly criticised the state of the airline.
At the meeting, the authority is expected to “evaluate the information and explanation to be provided by HKA, and will consider whether there is a need to take appropriate action(s)”, according to a statement it issued on Thursday night, in which it also cited its power to revoke the airline’s licence.
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