Cathay Pacific suffers 38 per cent plunge in passengers travelling to Hong Kong in August as busy holiday month hit by anti-government protests
- Airline expects September will also be challenging and has said it will make short-term remedial measures
- Demand for business class travel, which supports far more of Cathay Pacific’s revenue ‘experienced a more significant drop’
The number of passengers flying to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific Airways plunged 38 per cent in August as the often violent anti-government protests scared away visitors during one of the busiest months for travel.
And the weakening business environment would not ease in September, the city’s largest airline group said on Wednesday.
Demand for business class travel, which supports far more of Cathay Pacific’s revenue compared with economy, “experienced a more significant drop”, the airline said, signalling fewer people willing to come to Hong Kong for corporate reasons.
“August was an incredibly challenging month, both for Cathay Pacific and for Hong Kong,” Ronald Lam Siu-por, chief customer and commercial officer at the Cathay Pacific Group, said.
“Overall tourist arrivals were nearly half of what they usually are in what is normally a strong summer holiday month, and this has significantly affected the performance of our airlines.”
The group, which includes flagship carrier Cathay Pacific and regional airlines Cathay Dragon and HK Express, said it would make some unspecified cuts to routes in the short-term.