Cathay Pacific ‘optimistically’ predicts flying less than a quarter of pre-coronavirus flights for next eight months, with hopes hingeing on vaccine
- Recovery in second half of 2021 depends on ‘effective’ vaccine
- Forecast hints at staffing levels airline will need going forward
Cathay Pacific Airways has warned its business throughout 2021 will still be less than half of what it was before the coronavirus crisis, with much depending on the availability of a viable vaccine, underscoring the uphill recovery facing airlines.
In its September business update released on Monday, the airline said the first half of next year would be by far the toughest, anticipating flying less than a quarter of the schedule it ran ahead of Covid-19 grinding global travel to a halt.
The forecast also gave a hint into the company’s future staffing requirements next year and beyond.
Ronald Lam Siu-por, the group’s chief customer and commercial officer, said the carrier’s 2021 outlook was “already the most optimistic that we can responsibly adopt at this moment”.
“We assume we will be operating well below a quarter of pre-pandemic capacity in the first half of next year, but will see a recovery in the second half of the year – only assuming the vaccines currently under development prove to be effective and are widely adopted in our key markets by summer 2021.”
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Cathay Pacific warns of historic HK$9.9 billion loss due to coronavirus pandemic
Lam added that September rounded off a difficult summer, usually the peak passenger travel season.