Cathay Pacific Airways is cutting capacity as travel to and from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) deteriorates.
The airline will now cut flights in 2020 by 1.4% instead of a planned increase of 3.1% in capacity.
Earlier this month, Cathay Pacific further lowered its full-year profit forecast as it issued a warning that the second half of 2019 will come in lower than expected due to continued protests in Hong Kong.
Political turmoil has been flaring in Hong Kong since late spring of 2019, as protesters have taken to the streets over what they consider the government’s failure to protect citizens’ civil liberties. Hong Kong is a part of China, but is supposed to remain politically independent until the late 2040s.
Airport Authority Hong Kong reported a 13% drop in passengers in October, and a drop of more than 6% in the number of inbound and outbound flights.
Earlier this month, Cathay Pacific Group revealed it needed to optimise its passenger fleet of its airlines – Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and HK Express.
The group hopes the move will allow each airline to achieve its full development potential by leveraging respective unique strengths.
In total, the group has existing orders for 65 new aircraft that it will receive by 2024, as part of the fleet modernisation plan. This includes the delivery of 21state-of-the-art Boeing 777-9 aircraft, 12 modern Airbus A350 and 32 A321neo aircraft between 2020 and 2024.
Following a comprehensive review of its airlines’ fleets, the group has decided that Cathay Dragon will operate the first 16 of these narrow-body A321neo aircraft upon delivery from 2020 to 2022. The remaining 16 aircraft, meanwhile, will join the HK Express fleet from 2022.