Cathay Pacific yesterday released its December 2020 traffic figures that were down 98.7% year-on-year as expected. The airline transported less than 40,000 passengers in the month.
The airline also warned the Hong Kong SAR government that if they implement the 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine followed by 7-day medical surveillance for airline crews, it would negatively affect the airline’s ability to co continue passenger and cargo services to/from Hong Kong.
You can access Cathay Pacific here.
Here’s part of the release by Cathay Pacific:
“Effective later within February 2021, the Hong Kong SAR Government will implement a new 14-day hotel quarantine plus 7-day medical surveillance requirement for both our Hong Kong-based pilots and cabin crew.
The new measure will have a significant impact on our ability to service our passenger and cargo markets. The actual extent of such impact is yet to be confirmed and will be affected by a number of factors, including the success of mitigation measures we are able to adopt, such as agile manpower resources management.
At this stage, our preliminary assessment is that the new measure may result in a reduction of current passenger capacity of around 60%, a reduction of current cargo capacity of around 25% and a further increase in our cash burn of approximately HK$300-$400 million per month, on top of our current HK$1.0-1.5 billion levels.”
Here’s what Hong Kong SAR is contemplating doing:
Conclusion
Airlines that currently continue to service Hong Kong will do immediate turnarounds (regional flights) or offer one-stop services via other cities such as Bangkok and Singapore with a crew change, ensuring that no crew member steps off the plane in Hong Kong.
British Airways have double crewed the flights with one crew resting the flight to Hong Kong and operating the return sector.
It could theoretically be possible for Cathay Pacific to do the same as it still has crew bases outside of Hong Kong.
