Cathay Pacific swings axe in response to sharp drop in passenger numbers, with flights to Dublin, New York and Paris all hit, and a freeze on spending
- Hong Kong carrier suspends long-haul services ahead of difficult winter
- Analyst expects short-haul flights to mainland China to be next as airline also implements hiring freeze
Cathay Pacific has responded to a sharp decline in passenger numbers in August by axing a number of short- and long-haul routes, cutting flights to other destinations, and ordering a hiring and spending freeze.
With a difficult winter ahead, and the anti-government protests in Hong Kong showing no signs of coming to an end, the carrier has suspended flights to Dublin, Medan in Indonesia, and daytime flights to Paris and Frankfurt.
Cathay said the Dublin route would be suspended on November 7, and from next year would only operate during the summer months.
It has also cut the number of flights to New York, Washington and Vancouver, with an analyst predicting that short-haul routes to mainland China are likely to be next.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s biggest airline unveiled an 11.3 per cent slump in passengers compared to August last year, the busiest month for business, driven by a 38 per cent fall in people coming to the city as a result of the increasingly violent protests. The decline in passengers, as a percentage, was the single biggest fall in a decade.