HONG Kong flag carrier cathay Pacific Airways' cargo capacity will be reduced by more than two-thirds and its existing passenger flights by about 80 per cent following Hong Kong's recent imposition of a two-week flight ban on certain countries and tightened aircrew quarantine requirements.
In an internal memo to staff, the airline said it had previously been operating at about 70 per cent of its pre-pandemic cargo capacity and running around 10 per cent of passenger flights. But from last Friday, those figures were expected to have dropped to around 20 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
The latest arrangements are expected to deal yet another blow to the airline battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and to Hong Kong's reputation as a global aviation hub, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
The airline said it will implement 'substantial reductions' to its long-haul freighter capacity in the first quarter due to the latest crew quarantine measures imposed by authorities.
The new rules mean air cargo crew members will be required to undergo compulsory quarantine at a quarantine hotel for three days upon arrival in Hong Kong.
The carrier said that regional freighter operations would continue as normal but the reduction in long-haul flights would 'severely' impact contracted cargo.
The worst hit regions are Europe and South West Pacific where the carrier plans to cancel all freighter flights during the quarter, reports London's Air Cargo News.
However, it will maintain some cargo flights to the two regions using cargo-only passenger capacity (COP).
'Regional COP services will operate as scheduled in the first quarter, while COP services to The Americas will remain suspended in January and only a skeleton COP schedule to Europe and South West Pacific will be operated.
'We are assessing options to increase long-haul COP capacity in February, however, this is likely to be limited.'
The carrier added: 'In parallel, we are exploring alternative operating modes to increase long-haul freighter capacity beyond this base schedule, however, such capacity is likely to be limited and will take time to implement.'
Cathay Pacific said that the freighter schedule is firm, subject to no further changes to crew quarantine requirements.
'We will continue to review our current operations and will update customers in the event that there are further changes,' the carrier said.
'We sincerely apologise for the disruption caused. Our local teams will continue to work with customers to mitigate this latest disruption as much as possible.'
Cathay said it would also continue to explore opportunities to increase regional frequencies to meet demand.
It has been a tough start to the year for shippers looking to export cargo out of Hong Kong.
In late December, Cathay announced that it would halt all long-haul freighter flights until January 6 due to the stricter quarantine rules.
But a day later, the authorities banned all incoming passenger flights from eight countries as part of efforts to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant.
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In an internal memo to staff, the airline said it had previously been operating at about 70 per cent of its pre-pandemic cargo capacity and running around 10 per cent of passenger flights. But from last Friday, those figures were expected to have dropped to around 20 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
The latest arrangements are expected to deal yet another blow to the airline battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and to Hong Kong's reputation as a global aviation hub, reports Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
The airline said it will implement 'substantial reductions' to its long-haul freighter capacity in the first quarter due to the latest crew quarantine measures imposed by authorities.
The new rules mean air cargo crew members will be required to undergo compulsory quarantine at a quarantine hotel for three days upon arrival in Hong Kong.
The carrier said that regional freighter operations would continue as normal but the reduction in long-haul flights would 'severely' impact contracted cargo.
The worst hit regions are Europe and South West Pacific where the carrier plans to cancel all freighter flights during the quarter, reports London's Air Cargo News.
However, it will maintain some cargo flights to the two regions using cargo-only passenger capacity (COP).
'Regional COP services will operate as scheduled in the first quarter, while COP services to The Americas will remain suspended in January and only a skeleton COP schedule to Europe and South West Pacific will be operated.
'We are assessing options to increase long-haul COP capacity in February, however, this is likely to be limited.'
The carrier added: 'In parallel, we are exploring alternative operating modes to increase long-haul freighter capacity beyond this base schedule, however, such capacity is likely to be limited and will take time to implement.'
Cathay Pacific said that the freighter schedule is firm, subject to no further changes to crew quarantine requirements.
'We will continue to review our current operations and will update customers in the event that there are further changes,' the carrier said.
'We sincerely apologise for the disruption caused. Our local teams will continue to work with customers to mitigate this latest disruption as much as possible.'
Cathay said it would also continue to explore opportunities to increase regional frequencies to meet demand.
It has been a tough start to the year for shippers looking to export cargo out of Hong Kong.
In late December, Cathay announced that it would halt all long-haul freighter flights until January 6 due to the stricter quarantine rules.
But a day later, the authorities banned all incoming passenger flights from eight countries as part of efforts to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant.
SeaNews Turkey
