Hong Kong carriers forced to cancel 150 flights to Japan as country restricts number of planes arriving from city
- Cathay Pacific and HK Express will each scrap up to 15 flights per week between February 3 and March 2 to comply with Japanese government’s restrictions
- Affected passengers can rebook or receive refunds, airlines say
At least 150 flights between Hong Kong and Japan will be axed in the coming month as the country continues to impose limits on planes from the city, while tour operators are expecting more cancellations in the coming weeks.
Cathay Pacific and HK Express announced on Monday they would each scrap up to 15 flights per week between February 3 and March 2 to comply with the Japanese government’s restrictions on Hong Kong arrivals. Affected travellers could rebook or receive a refund, the airlines said.
The affected flights included ones to and from Tokyo-Narita, Tokyo-Haneda, Osaka-Kansai, Nagoya-Chubu, Okinawa and Fukuoka.
Cathay on Monday said the move came as the Japanese government continued to limit the number of flights carriers could operate from Hong Kong to Japan.
“As a result, we can only operate 72 flights per week into Japan, which is 12 to 13 flights per week less than what was originally planned and approved by the regulatory authorities for February,” the airline said.